If you have been to the circus and toured the tent where the elephants rest and are fed, you will see that large, two-to-three-ton elephants are tethered to a small wooden stake with a small chain around the ankle of one of their hind legs. This tiny w…
A few months after meeting her during rounds at a dialysis center, an elderly woman gripped my hand and quietly asked, “Do you think I’ll make it in time?” Her voice trembled. She had been silent for weeks, worn down by dialysis and o…
In the race to get into competitive medical residency training, today’s medical students are chasing something that may surprise you: scientific abstracts, posters, workshops, and research papers. Lots of them. Not necessarily new ideas or meanin…
It’s 4:30 in the morning. I can see the small clock across the room. I lie in a hospital bed. The woman who approaches, the nurse, I know a bit. She greets me with, “I need to take your vitals.” I know there is more to her message, bu…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Urologist Diana Londoño discusses her article, “From healers to influencers: How fear took over health care advice.” Diana addresses the concerning trend of ph…
When graduating residents and fellows begin their careers as attending doctors, there is a wealth of financial advice out there. Grow into your salary slowly. Don’t buy a house right away. Get disability insurance. Plan ahead for the tax bomb tha…
You’ve probably had this experience. You ask someone—nicely—to do something that clearly needs to be done. And they don’t. Or they nod, walk away, and nothing changes. You’re not trying to be difficult. You’re just trying to kee…
As a U.S.-licensed respiratory therapist and former ENT physician, I have seen firsthand how respiratory illnesses can devastate lives when early intervention is out of reach. From hospital wards in Moscow to respiratory units in Florida, the one const…
The real limitation of clinical AI isn’t the model; it’s the context. AI can draft notes, flag interactions, and read scans. However, when it comes to understanding the patient in front of you, it’s still a matter of working in the da…
Scientists have known about bird flu (H5N1) for decades as a virus that primarily affects birds. Until suddenly, one day, it didn’t. In March 2024, H5N1 showed up somewhere very unexpected—in dairy cows in Texas (and their milk). And then, the vi…
