The Podcast by KevinMD

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging in the United States for over two years. Health care workers across the country have been chronically pushed to their limits as we navigate difficult situations on a daily basis. The advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, although a powerful tool in our crusade against the pandemic, has created a new branch of emotions for health care workers towards unvaccinated patients or those with vaccine hesitancy. The empathy we are often expected to have without fail can be difficult to maintain in the face of these new challenges. Nonetheless, COVID-19 persists. We owe it to ourselves and our patients to find ways to deal with these complex emotions." Masood R. Mohammed is an emergency medicine resident. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "How to cope with pandemic fatigue." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I remember our first day in the cystic fibrosis clinic like it was yesterday. I cried in the parking garage and struggled to nurse my daughter in the waiting room. And then it happened. That moment is forever etched in my mind. The pediatric pulmonologist took my hands, looked me in the eye, and said, 'Your daughter is going to live a long and full life.' She went on to say that it was her job as a physician and my role as a parent to help enable this. At that moment, she recognized me as a mother and earned my trust. She forged the beginning of a partnership that would continue for years to come. And to this day, her words remain imprinted on my heart. I've spoken with hundreds of families like mine, and nearly all remember the exact moment their lives separated into 'before' and 'after.' That is why it is so important for physicians to deliver pediatric diagnoses with intention. Words and actions matter big time." Laura Spiegel is founder and president, Paint Her in Color. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "10 tips for delivering difficult pediatric diagnoses." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"So how can health systems and clinicians provide patients with an improved, consumer-friendly experience while also making strides to decrease provider administrative burden and burnout? They need to embrace virtual care beyond just video visits and look toward asynchronous telehealth. Asynchronous care allows providers to treat patients for common, low-acuity conditions online without a real-time, face-to-face interaction. It automates both the patient interview and clinician documentation, and provides clinical decision support while maintaining provider autonomy, keeping the clinician in control of diagnosis and treatment. Looking ahead, asynchronous telehealth holds unlocked potential for improving access and convenience for patients, reducing physician burnout, and driving efficiencies in care delivery to ultimately lower costs and improve outcomes." Christina Chen is a family medicine physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Debunking the myths around asynchronous care." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"She kept quiet, but she had planted the seed. Interestingly I did not talk much about work during the appointment, so her question stirred my thoughts. Why did she think it was work-related? I started to look at my daily routine. I was able to recognize where I needed to set boundaries at work. At home, I delegated some simple chores to the kids. I must say kids are excellent learners if given the right directions. Small steps and changes made my life much more manageable. My somatic symptoms went away along with my stress. I owe it to my PCP for recognizing what I was struggling with and bringing it to the surface for me to address it." Sirosh Masuood is a psychiatrist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "When primary care helps a psychiatrist." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Pfizer has a particular onus to help intervene globally as one of the largest and most profitable pharmaceutical companies in the world. With its immense capital power, Pfizer should shift some of their spending from national ads promoting their vaccine product in a country that has large booster vaccine availability to sharing the technology that can help countries self-produce and vaccinate their citizens much faster. Even if new production facilities had delays from receiving the mRNA technology protocol to production, the months spent toward self-producing could be expediting vaccine receipt for countries otherwise waiting until the end of 2022 for donated vaccines. In a pandemic that is approaching six million global deaths, time is the most valuable resource in fulfilling vaccine equity. Countries cannot wait to save lives while wealthy pharmaceutical companies gatekeep vital technology." Amber Gipson-Fine is a project manager. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "People over profit: Pfizer and Moderna must share vaccine technology." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Too often in medicine, health care providers assume what patients want or need. Like the crocodile, we may assume all patients would want a tire removed in order to help extend their life – even if the cure meant losing the only thing that made their unique life worth living. The burden of changing health care should not rest on the shoulders of patients facing major medical decisions, suffering symptoms, worrying about their future, and struggling to advocate for themselves. It is important we help patients recognize just how important their opinions are." Resources mentioned in the show: The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute: A to Z Inventory of Decision Aids MGH Health Decision Sciences Center Karen Sepucha is a research scientist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "We must help patients recognize how important their opinions are." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I am ashamed of the callous, avoidant goodbyes that have been made in my name, and I regret the distress caused by this widely accepted standard. The determined patients will figure it out anyway, and the less-resourceful ones are left confused, hurt, and more likely to avoid important medical care." Karen Dong is a family physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The missing doctors' goodbyes." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"It turns out that living beings are less like bags of sloshing water, as I imagined in grade school, and more like a stew. While water makes up most of it, water alone is thin and empty of the organic molecules from which organisms are built—the stew thickeners. Water alone is lifeless. Instead, it is the mucus in our bodies that—so long as it has the correct qualities and consistency—is the key to a healthy life. The 'fact' that our bodies are made mostly of water is misleading. What we are actually made of is mucus." Jonathan Reisman is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician and author of The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "We are actually made of mucus." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Unconscious bias in health care describes associations or attitudes that reflexively alter our perceptions, thereby unintentionally affecting behavior, interactions, and decision-making. Health care organizations need to be actively discussing this subject at the highest level to find gaps and learn where to dedicate resources for improvement, even if it means confronting awkward topics and having uncomfortable conversations. The time has come for organizations to be deliberate in their efforts to improve diversity in their workforce and active in their outreach to improve inclusivity. The problem does not improve if we choose to ignore it, or worse, deny it." Brooke Trainer is an anesthesiologist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Acknowledging and mitigating unconscious bias in health care." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"We need to address the underlying preventable factors that cause more Black Americans to die of heart attacks and strokes and suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes complications than white Americans instead of focusing on non-existent biological differences. I would like to see the scientific disciplines unite to call out the mislabeling of race as a biological category and stop using race in place of structural racism, toxic stress caused by discrimination, and systemic inequities in social determinants of health. Instead of emphasizing our biological differences, the research community needs to focus on the real problems Black Americans continue to face that increase their risk of illness and death." Carmen Presti is a nurse practitioner. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Remove race from clinical guidelines." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"There is something about physically putting pen to paper, that connection between your mind and your body that is just very health-inducing. And it takes time. And often we do not dedicate the time to taking care of ourselves and something as simple as writing in a journal, writing these, you know, these pieces. In eight minutes, you can get a lot done. It's been amazing what people come up with. And so I think the first part is just committing the time and giving yourself the space to do something that is fun and really brings pleasure." Janet E. Patin is a family physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Stunning new medical conditions overlooked!" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Two issues drive teen substance use: drug availability and perception of risk. Availability: Today's teens know that obtaining substances is far too easy. For example, 70 percent of high school seniors say marijuana is either "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain. Seventy-seven percent say getting their hands on alcohol is very easy and twenty-one percent of seniors believe it is easy to find MDMA (ecstasy). Thirty percent say getting their hands on amphetamines is also very easy. Perhaps more alarming, 27 percent of eighth-graders said getting ahold of a drug like marijuana is either fairly easy or very easy to do. And nearly 50 percent said alcohol is easy to find." Richard Capriola is a counselor and author of The Addicted Child: A Parent's Guide to Adolescent Substance Abuse. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "The pandemic drives a decline in teen substance abuse." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"It was probably in early 1803, as Jenner's fame swelled and more doctors were adopting vaccination, when Bell met a farmer with a curious story. The farmer's name was Benjamin Jesty, from the Downshay farm in a nearby village. Seeing the growing practice of vaccination, Jesty was eager to tell his story and claimed he deserved rewards just like Jenner. Bell, probably intrigued, recorded Jesty's account." Rod Tanchanco is an internal medicine physician and can be reached on Twitter @rodtmd. He is the author of First Patients: The incredible true stories of pioneer patients. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Farmer Jesty's bold experiment." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I suspect that some of the nearly 20 percent of physicians who have quit their jobs during this pandemic needed to feel this relief, too. They needed to feel the relief of having no plan. No 'if this, then that.' They needed to just exist in the now. Because who knows how long the now will be around anyway? Will we wake up one day and find that years have gone by without knowing it because we were so busy planning ahead for scenarios that never occurred? This is not something that worksite wellness programs can provide or resilience training can foster. It is a reality of COVID-19 when you are caring for anyone who needs you, as much as (or more than) your patients. The miracle is that there are so many of us left in the workforce at all, riding the waves of uncertainty feeling like the only COVID contingency plan we can depend upon is ourselves." Margaret B. Nolan is a physician-scientist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Am I a doctor or a contingency plan?" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Reducing the occurrence of comorbid mental and physical disorders will require an integrated model combining medical and behavioral health care services. The window of opportunity is open for health insurers and employers to invest in employee assistance programs and telehealth platforms and build on a newfound acceptance of mental health services. Additionally, health care providers can mitigate the cost of care and improve their outcomes with an increased focus on interdisciplinary training that accounts for the common occurrence of both physical and mental health conditions. With a new approach to mental health services, we will see a noticeable decrease of stress levels, happier patients, and higher productivity in the workplace." Christopher Valerian is a health care executive. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "New strategies are needed for mental health treatment." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"If we want a more effective health care system, it needs to be re-engineered to revolve around the true center of gravity – the patient. We must involve patients early and often in the design of health policy, health technology, and health care ecosystems. We must reinvent health care payment models to tie incentives to what is of value to patients. And we must give every American access to a high-quality PCP. Until we do this, we'll continue to pay too much money for too little value, and we'll all suffer in a system perfectly designed to keep getting the results it's getting." Sara Pastoor is a family physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The center of gravity in health care and the role of primary care." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I do not hesitate to share what I endured. I recognize that there is a code of silence that must be broken when one is involved in legal action. It is imperative that we speak out to patients, legislators, and other physicians against these types of injustices. The sense of isolation can be overwhelming. I do not want anyone to go through what I have gone through, questioning myself, my skills, and my self-worth. Hopefully sharing our stories will help to give other physicians added strength. I have come to firmly believe that publicity and sharing our experiences are our best tools against legal injustice." Mark Lopatin is a rheumatologist and author of Rheum for Improvement: The Evolution of a Health-Care Advocate. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Publicity and sharing our experiences are our best tools against legal injustice." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Now more than ever, our profession needs to move toward racial healing. There is an urgent need for nursing to acknowledge its history of racism, boldly confront racism wherever it shows up, and address the racism that nurses witness when delivering care to those they serve. This will not happen until nurses engage in self-awareness and reflection as well as confront any personal racist attitudes and behaviors. When nursing demonstrates a commitment to creating an antiracist culture within the profession, nurses and patients, both in need of healing, will be better served. It is our hope that this report will open a window of opportunity for nursing to acknowledge its history of racism and resolve to solidify a future that is welcoming, respectful, and supportive of all nurses regardless of race, ethnicity, or any other unique attributes. Anything less is counter to the core principles of a profession that demands caring, compassion, and respect for everyone." Janice Phillips and Katie Boston-Leary are nurses. They share their stories and discuss their KevinMD article, "Nurses are in need of racial healing." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"What exactly is my obligation to medicine? Am I supposed to practice medicine forever? Is it my duty? Do I have to continue serving my patients, the hospital, and society because of these expectations? The answer is simple: You get to decide. Most physicians I know love practicing medicine. It is and has always been a calling. The problem lies only in the thought that you should practice medicine. When used in this way, the word should is a cognitive distortion. A cognitive distortion is a pattern of thinking that is generally false or inaccurate and carries the potential to cause psychological harm. When you use the word should, there is often an accompanying shift in focus from what you want to what others might think." Michael Hersh is a gastroenterologist. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Stop 'shoulding' all over yourself." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Deeming individuals 'non-decisional' for misinformed beliefs that are not representative of a psychiatric illness is inappropriate, unfairly medicalizes the narrative and incurs a risk of further public distrust of the health care system. It is not the province of psychiatry to adjudicate uncomfortable social discourse so much as to elicit it. Empathic listening — curiosity rather than social judgment — has always been the most profound and powerful tool at our disposal, and it must remain so." Charles Hebert is a psychiatrist. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Can patients just say no to treatment?" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Far from signaling weakness, asking for and receiving help is not only a sign of strength, but a sign of courageous leadership. And so, I ask you to put on your own oxygen mask, and then to reach out and help your colleagues put on theirs, too. As physicians, the trauma we've experienced through our decades-long education and training, through our competitive medical culture, and through years of silence and self-sacrifice have created a common bond and an unspoken understanding. We must give ourselves the love and compassion that I know is deep within each of us, and we must help each other to do the same. Our greatest power comes from standing in support of each other, together. And it is the only way forward." Tammie Chang is a pediatric hematology-oncology physician and co-founder, Pink Coat, MD. She can be reached on Instagram @tammiechangmd and at her self-titled site, Tammie Chang, MD. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Fellow physicians, what is our path forward?" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"With government and industry working hand in hand, we can develop and stockpile monoclonal antibody therapeutics in anticipation of variants to come. We need to be thinking several moves ahead to keep ahead of variants so that stockpiles of therapies do not become obsolete as they have now. Our government needs to ensure the proper funding to support the development and manufacturing of such therapies, and we need to begin demanding they do so. These are highly complex and time and resource-intensive endeavors. However, the technology exists today through modern antibody platforms to address these needs, and countless lives can be saved with such an approach. The more action we take now, the more we can be ready for future variants from threatening our nation's health." Ian Chan is a health care executive. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "To treat future COVID variants, we need more than vaccines." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I have spent years in silence about my career decisions, nervous that my inability to take call and inability to thrive while sleep-deprived could be seen as weaknesses. Being afraid to admit I was advocating for my mental health and my life. That's a problem. I am experiencing fear for advocating for the health and safety of myself and others for concern that I may sound weak. That's a big problem. Silence is not the answer. Avoiding talking about it is not the answer. I cannot avoid call hard enough for prolonged sleep deprivation to be less of a problem for others. So let's keep talking. Physicians need sleep. The system needs to change. Many are not OK. I was one of them. We need to normalize talking about the hard things and creating environments that promote psychological safety and the ability to truly ask for help, not censor our struggles in mental health appointments to save face. And if you need to hear it: It's OK to crave basic needs and advocate for them. You're a human, not a robot; we need to create a system made for humans, not robots. If you are having dark thoughts, please seek help. While the best time may have been days or months ago, the next best time is now." Jillian Rigert is an oral medicine specialist and radiation oncology research fellow. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "I risked my career to save my life." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"That year, 2020, Uğur told the crowd, would be the year BioNTech proved the doubters wrong. There was no time to lose. Soon after he'd finished his talk, Uğur hopped on a plane to Seattle, where he met with a team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which had recently signed a $100 million agreement with BioNTech to develop a slew of new drugs. Hours later, he moved on to Boston, to stop by a small cancer immunotherapy company that BioNTech was about to purchase in a $67 million deal. The purpose of the visit was to reassure staff that he, a fellow scientist, was interested in advancing their innovations and was not a vulture disguised in a lab coat who had come to gut the firm and slim down its workforce. At this point, Uğur was still fairly oblivious to events in Wuhan. He walked around the biotech firm's foyer, introducing himself to dozens of soon-to-be employees, shaking each of them vigorously by the hand." Joe Miller is a journalist. He shares his story and discusses the book, The Vaccine: Inside the Race to Conquer the COVID-19 Pandemic. Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"America's health care workers are on the brink of collapse. If we want them to hold on and be there for us when we are too sick to walk, stand or breathe, we must act now. Cast aside political opinions. Follow CDC guidelines. Wear masks when you are in a group of people. Remain properly vaccinated. Maintain social distances. And please extend extra consideration to health care workers. Is that too much to ask to do for someone trying to save your life or the life of your loved one?" Julie Collins is a cardiovascular perfusionist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Support desperate health care workers now, before your life counts on them." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"As a doctor, it is pretty humbling to reflect on the fairly minimal impact our health care system has on individuals' overall health. One study I find particularly intriguing shows that socioeconomic factors (e.g., education and income), and physical environment (e.g., security and safety at home and reliable access to transportation), affect a person's health outcomes just as much as their behaviors (e.g., mental health, diet, and physical activity) and the clinical care they receive. The data indicates an even, 50/50 split. I suspect that many people view such data as interesting—but not exactly surprising. We have always known that sometimes there is little we can do medically to help a person until we have attended to their so-called social determinants of health (SDOH). Concerns about money, transportation, food security, housing uncertainty, and other socioeconomic factors nearly always prevent people from concentrating on their health." Joe Nicholson is a health care executive. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "It is time to make a dent in social determinants of health." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist, woman, mother, wife, friend, mentor. I can't remember a time when I wasn't trying to "work smarter, not harder" to get it all done and feel good about myself, only to begin climbing the mountain with a fresh list the next day. My goals were simple: peace of mind and a sense that I was in control of my life and doing a good job for all the people who needed me. Just a little more effort, better organization, and I would be there. As a physician coach, I find that the topic of work-life integration is always at or near the top of the list of issues for clients. Reading Oliver Burkeman's excellent book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals made me do some critical thinking. Although we act as if time is a commodity, it has no tangible essence. It can't be owned. And though we constantly behave as if it's unlimited, we know better, especially as physicians. All we really have is the present moment. What is it we're really trying to manage? And, equally importantly, what sense of failure do we inflict on ourselves with our continuing unsuccessful attempts to fit more than 24 hours of activities into each day?" Laura Berenstain is a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and physician coach. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The new rules of time management." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Knowing that an important number of Latinx are not yet fully vaccinated and understanding the health care gaps and social disparities that affect this group, it is reasonable to assume that the Latinx community will be disproportionately affected by the pain and sorrow of the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. More efforts and resources need to be designated to continue educating and empowering the Latinx community to comply with vaccination and other well-proven preventive measures that will protect them from COVID-19 and its devastating consequences now and in the future. In addition, medical schools, societies, and other related health care institutions need to become more socially and culturally aware and advocate for a diverse, inclusive health care system that promotes equity and reduces disparities." Miriam Zylberglait Lisigurski is an internal medicine physician. Ricardo Correa is an endocrinologist. They share their stories and discuss the KevinMD article, "COVID-19 vaccination: the Latinx experience." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects about 100,000 Americans as an inherited genetic disorder with intermittent exacerbations requiring hospitalization. SCD is also a painful and complicated disease with no single physician specialist that can provide pain relief. While SCD pain is similar in severity to cancer pain, patients struggle to find adequate pain relief because they are often labeled as 'doesn't appear in pain' as the imaging scans may not show actual pathology. Some palliative colleagues draw the comparison that cancer is visible in scans and SCD is not, which gives mental ease to clinicians as cancer patients' pain is easier to believe and treat appropriately. However, the source of SCD pain is typically micro-vascular because the disease generates pain due to occlusion in the micro-vascular. It can't be "seen" on scans except when worse complications like acute chest syndrome or avascular necrosis of a bigger joint are present." Ramandeep Kaur is a palliative medicine physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Patients need palliative care to manage the pain of sickle cell disease." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"We know regulators can move quickly to confront a health crisis because we have seen it in action. During COVID, the nation eased regulatory burdens at all levels of government to help health systems and doctors leverage technology and change the way they deliver care and to drive vaccine innovation. During the AIDS epidemic, we saw how effectively we could mobilize across the public and private sector to really change the course of the fight. Now is the time to harness the same energy for the opioid crisis. When you begin multiplying the number of those who have died from overdoses by the number of friends and loved ones who cared about each person and are now experiencing life-altering losses, there are fewer and fewer Americans unaffected by this crisis. The status quo is not only failing people with opioid use disorder, it's failing all of us." Arthur Robin Williams is a psychiatrist. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "The status quo is failing people with opioid use disorder." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Their absence makes me feel sad, I look around at my peers, envious and curious, Obsessing over when they will show up. When they do, they never seem to live up to expectations, Too small, too uneven, but what's sure is it's a sign I'm no longer a child. It adds to my wardrobe in a hushed way, I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed that they're finally here. I look at magazines; should I display them more? Or will my whole essence be reduced to how big they appear under my shirt. I'm confused but feel alone with no one to talk to about these new guests." Poonam Merai is an internal medicine physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "There is no other body part that has filled me with such a roller coaster of emotion." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I understand that the biggest fear you have about going through chemotherapy is losing your hair. I just want to tell you. You will be fine. Trust me. I know it's barbaric. Why don't we have medicines to treat cancer that will not make you lose your hair in this day and age? Strange, right? But science has its limits. Work is being done on finding such drugs, but we are not there yet. If you Google "forced standing," a black and white picture of a girl from a couple of hundred years ago pops up who is being forced to stand, by tying her neck and arms with ropes to the ceiling and walls. Her head is slightly slumped over to one side as if she does not want to stand. The caption will inform you that this is actually how clinical depression was treated at that time. Perhaps if someone is depressed and is lying in bed all day, forcing them to stand up would somehow cure depression. When we look at that picture today, it seems like a scene out of a horror movie. Whoever I have shown that picture to has gasped. But at that time, this treatment was likely endorsed by some, if not all, psychiatrist societies of the world. Human history, after all, has no deficit of theories and rituals that were popular at the time but later considered abhorrent.' Farhan S. Imran is a hematology-oncology physician who blogs at Did I Ask? He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "To my patient who is going to lose her hair from chemotherapy." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Our patients go through some very predictable fears and responses to illness and injury. In turn, medical students and residents also think and respond with some thought distortions and misunderstandings about their patients and themselves. Armed with awareness and familiarity with the typical patterns, we learn more about what to expect. We anticipate when we will get push-back and we are better prepared to act calmly and confidently. Additionally, we can get curious and ask better questions during those challenging interactions. What else is true about that grumpy old man? Is he someone's father or grandfather? Could some of the patient's behavior be a symptom of his disease? If we remember that, don't those facts make the patient's actions a lot more understandable? Is there another way to approach a problem to which you see only one solution? Can you reach some collaborative plan that satisfies both the patient and you?" Joan Naidorf is an emergency physician and author of Changing How We Think about Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Changing how we think about difficult patients." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Overall, the health system in the United States is still not tilting its axes in favor of either primary care or family doctor. What is worse, family doctors as a collective are more balkanized and less cohesive than ever. There is a sense among those in the field that something is not right about the specialty. Some feel there is a bait-and-switch aspect to becoming a family doctor. It ends up being something much different than what they were initially told. Others feel it is an impossible job to do well. The ask is too big for them. Still others believe sincerely in the ideal definition of the role, that of the generalist or comprehensive doctor, but find themselves working too hard or sacrificing too much to get it done. They find other niche-oriented ways to convince themselves they are doing "true" family medicine work. Family doctors everywhere are searching out more sustainable career paths for themselves, leading to so much career variety that the very label family doctor starts losing its preferred connotation." Timothy Hoff is a professor of management and author of Searching for the Family Doctor: Primary Care on the Brink. He shares his story and discusses his article, "Family medicine and the fight for the soul of health care." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Our children are not OK. Our pediatricians are not OK. Please, let us not further ignore and jeopardize the future health of our society. Pediatrics needs a transformational change to direct primary care and other models that transition from transactional care to relational care. Encourage your employer to embrace direct primary care for children. The future health of our children is at stake." Andrew Hertz and Keili Mistovich are pediatricians. They share their stories and discuss the KevinMD article, "Kids are not OK: Health care is failing them." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I had sent an email to some key people in my organization about managing patients' expectations and how that needed to be addressed differently on an organizational level. The truth of the matter is that I am powerless to change the way the system handles a lot of things. The more personally relevant issue is managing my expectations, both how I relate to the needs/expectations of those in front of me and my own personal needs and expectations of myself in delivering that care. Since we truly only have control over ourselves, the key question becomes how do I manage my own expectations better as a way of managing my own inner resources, namely, time, energy, and mental/emotional output?" Anne M. Miller is a psychiatrist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Managing expectations in the face of COVID-19." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"There is a small amount of literature about secondary trauma. This means that the people who respond to trauma (firefighters, police, doctors, EMTs, etc.) experience PTSD from experiences they were not the primary victims of. I haven't read the literature, and I don't know what qualifies. I do know that this is the single worst experience with humanity that I have ever had, and the images from that night are as clear in my head today as they were when I first saw them. I know I will never forget that night, nor will I ever cease to feel my heart drop and stomach churn when I think about the few steps that Amanda took from her bed to the bathroom. The last few of her life. Rehaan Shaffie is a hospitalist. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "The worst code I ever ran." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"If you knew we are like the 'Two Fridas,' that our hearts are connected, would you change your mind? Would you stop as you are about to cut the artery feeding your heart and mine? If you knew that when you cry because of your loneliness, because of your longing for your family, that I cry, too, (though behind your back, after I have comforted you) would you change your mind? If you knew that your isolation, with the tubes and gadgets coming from you or going into you, extend to me would you change your mind then?" Rosemary Eseh-Logue is an internal medicine physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Unrequited: love in the time of COVID-19." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"For the most highly educated and specialized professional on the health care totem pole, physicians put up with a ridiculous amount of nonsense in the workplace. You are pressured to see high volumes of patients in a rapid-fire fashion (15 minutes per visit) even when it interferes with the quality of care. You are expected to complete mundane and excessive administrative tasks and generally are not directly compensated for this time. You are given very little flexibility from your employers when it comes to rearranging your schedule and taking personal time off. For the average physician, the working conditions are intolerable at best and inhumane at worst. So the question is, why is this poor treatment tolerated?" Chelsea Turgeon is a former OB/GYN resident and can be reached at Coach Chels MD. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Why do physicians stay in toxic work environments?" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Unfortunately, when negotiating with hospitals I am frequently forced to deal with individuals who need to 'explain' the importance of maintaining flexibility in their workforce (a wonderful business school phrase that appropriately dehumanizes the people who are accomplishing the purported mission of the hospital to treat the sick and injured). The hospital personnel frequently tell me that limiting patient contact hours to 'only' 32 or 36 hours per week is considered part-time. Many contend that keeping the electronic health record boxes all appropriately checked should be done on the physician's own time. I assume the hospital administrators would be pleased if a physician avoided any personal contact with the patient during whatever brief moments are allocated for a visit so that the electronic health record can be put into a condition that allows billing for the visit. Physicians, of course, spend their visits treating the patient as a human being rather than a unit on the assembly line that is their schedule. Doing so requires significant outside time polishing the record so that the hospital may bill. Hospital executives apparently view this as an inefficient use of resources, and therefore frequently insist upon 40 patient contact hours per week." Dennis Hursh is a physician contract lawyer. He blogs at Physicians Contracts Blog. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Are hospitals evil? A physician contract lawyer explains." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I thought of her with each miscarriage I saw in COVID+ mothers, and during each delivery of premature rupture of membranes due to infection. I thought of her every time I gave steroids, increased the oxygen flow for someone struggling to breathe, or held the hand of someone before their emergency delivery. I saw her face when I was frantically calling a pulmonologist to help me manage oxygen on a deteriorating patient on the unit. She stayed with me through each obstetric emergency. She probably never thought of me. I was the doctor who made her cry when she was most excited to tell me that she wanted children. I don't know if she'll be back, and I don't know if I am better or worse at explaining the urgency. All I know is that we all make choices. With COVID, some choices will save lives, whereas other choices might end with the unimaginable." Yuliya Malayev is an obstetrician-gynecologist. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "What does it even mean to work through the unimaginable?" Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I failed my Step 1 medical school board exam by 1 point. This was very hard for me to process, and I consistently wondered if I would have passed if I had just waited an additional week. This new challenge led me to reach out to a new resource: the disability office. Never before had I considered my medical diagnosis of endometriosis and anxiety as a 'disability.' I had obviously done well enough to graduate college and get into medical school. Although, I never seemed to be able to achieve top grades in my class. I had always believed this was an explanation for being less intelligent than my peers. However, the disability office helped me realize that the standardized testing system was not equitable and did not allow me to do my very best in these exams. Through this experience, I realized that I do have a disability. All a disability means is that one is not able to achieve what other people without the disability can achieve." Stephanie E. Moss is a medical student. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Requesting disability accommodations in medical school." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"What makes soldiers and doctors good at their jobs are also the very things that make it hard to leave work at work. My former husband was, and is, very good at his job, especially when it comes to compassion and care for his patients. At work, he gives his all. He sits with grieving families, helping them understand what's happening with their loved ones and even crying with them as they die. To ask one more thing of him when he'd given every ounce of his soul all day seemed selfish and childish. So I tried to be civilized and grown-up, swallowing my need for love, to be seen and cared for the way his patients were. By the end of the day, he was so drained; he must have felt that no story he could tell me could bridge the huge divide between the battlefield of the hospital and the home we shared. This is what many doctors do: go back and forth between the battlefield and whatever "home" they've created. They are soldiers in everyday life." Susan Hart Gaines is an executive coach specializing in physician wellbeing. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "The difficulty in coming home: What doctors and soldiers have in common." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Life can feel full of uncertainty when battling cancer, with few guarantees. 'Is there still cancer in my body?' and 'Will it come back?' are common questions that have long been difficult to answer confidently until recently. Advances in next-generation sequencing — and a growing understanding of how our bodies respond to illness and treatment — have brought us closer than ever to predicting our individual futures, at least when it comes to cancer. In recent years, cancer researchers have embraced new noninvasive technologies that can detect small amounts of DNA shed by tumors into the blood, also known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). This is no easy feat, as ctDNA is extremely scarce after surgery and treatment — as low as a single molecule in a tube of blood. But by broadly sequencing one's tumor, we can identify its unique genetic signature, allowing for the creation of a highly sensitive and personalized assay that can track cancer in the body over time." Alexey Aleshin is a hematology-oncology physician and health care executive. He can be reached on Twitter @aaleshin. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Tumor-informed residual disease testing can help inform cancer treatment." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I understand what it feels like to be in the depths of depression and hopelessness. I have had a lifelong battle with stuttering, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, and suicide. I continually fight these battles and have learned to heal and recover through family, friends, and ultra-running. Since attempting to take my life on September 12, 2009, I have developed wellness tactics to help me journey through life to achieve optimum performance and to have a better work-life balance to lead a more healthy, peaceful, and purposeful life." Anthony Avellino is a pediatric neurosurgeon. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Coming back from the brink of burnout." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I was diagnosed over 20 years ago, and looking back, I feel privileged that I did meet the stereotype for anorexia and be forced into treatment. However, along the way, I have gained insight that people of all bodies share my struggles. And the use of weight/BMI to determine whether someone is struggling and should have access to treatment results in delayed diagnoses, limitations in access to care, prolonged suffering, invalidation, and shame." Jillian Rigert is an oral medicine specialist and radiation oncology research fellow. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Eating disorders thrive in secrecy, so let's talk about it. Starting with BMI." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

Often, physicians only give minimal attention to their financial futures, but potential federal changes could make tax planning even more important. The proposed infrastructure bill would increase taxes, affecting those with an annual income higher than $400,000, which is not uncommon for physicians. These changes make it vital for physicians to sit down with their financial advisors and CPAs now to minimize their own tax burden. Syed Nishat is a partner, Wall Street Alliance Group. This article is sponsored by Wall Street Alliance Group, specializing in physician financial planning. Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"The business of health care delivery differs markedly from other consumer and service industries in many ways. First and foremost, the economics differ. Specifically, the payers of medical care are often different from the customers, the government and third-party insurers are the primary payers, demand is inelastic, quality metrics are typically unavailable, and the industry consists largely of nonprofits that avoid taxes. And that's just the start of the economic differences. These profound economic differences vis-a-vis other industries lead to fundamental deficiencies in health care governance, leadership, organizational design, infrastructure, and operations. We believe economic exceptionalism is the root cause." Joe Mandato is a venture capitalist. Ryan Van Wert is a pulmonary physician and health care executive. They share their stories and discuss their KevinMD article, "Why health care delivery is an exceptionally different industry." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"I see lamenting the Great Resignation. I celebrate it. It's not so much about what people are leaving – but where are they going? What have they empowered themselves to become? The thought, 'There has to be something more,' has been pondered and fleshed out. We are stretching our wings, becoming educators, influencers, and entrepreneurs; creating movements and businesses; becoming the parents we always wanted to be. And I dare say that the writing is on the wall for organized medicine. We can lament that physicians are resigning and feverishly design retention programs. Or we can see that physicians do not want to be retained in this system. We are big thinkers, we are idealists, we are creative, and we are creating the future of medicine right now." Wendy Schofer is a pediatrician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Why we should celebrate the Great Resignation." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info

"Digital mental health apps have increased access to mental health care for people around the world. You can find services that fit your specific needs, often on a 24/7/365 basis, so if you need support in the middle of the night, it's there. Digital apps can include resource libraries, artificial intelligence-driven chatbots that tailor the treatment they provide to your responses, and digital coaching from credentialed mental health professionals at any hour of the day or night from the privacy of your home. Busy schedules or concerns about stigma no longer need to hold people back from getting the support they need, so if the holidays have you struggling, help is available." Zereana Jess-Huff is a counselor and health care executive. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Sustaining mental health during the holidays and starting strong in 2022." Did you enjoy today's episode? Rate and review the show so more audiences can find The Podcast by KevinMD. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified when a new episode comes out. Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode. Also available in Category 1 CME bundles. Powered by CMEfy - a seamless way for busy clinician learners to discover Internet Point-of-Care Learning opportunities that reward AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Learn more at about.cmefy.com/cme-info