After I was medically discharged from the military for seeking mental health treatment and transitioned out of surgery residency to recover, I isolated in guilt, shame, and exhaustion. Despite my surgery program director telling me repeatedly that he w…
Today was my first Match Day as a program director and, while most of my emotions are unprocessed, I already have many thoughts. I can’t forget the concurrent drop in my stomach, pause in my cardiac systole, and the involuntary intake of breath w…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Internal medicine physician Kara Pepper discusses her article, “From burnout to balance: 5 stages of career transformation.” Drawing from her own journey away …
Are you absorbing the system’s dysfunction? Do you find yourself absorbing the collective frustration of health care dysfunction? Taking on the role of savior? Overextending to compensate for broken processes? Feeling personally responsible for g…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Family physician Atharva Joshi discusses his article, “How the system hunts physicians who refuse to kneel.” He argues that the health care system often target…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Management consultant and author Roger A. Gerard discusses his article, “10 ways health care leaders sabotage their own success—and how to stop.” He identifies…
“Take two and call me in the morning,” I say as I hand two handmade matzahs to my longtime patients, Isaac and Joelle Zimbalist. They laugh, understanding the deeper message. For me, being a doctor isn’t just about treating symptoms —…
She hadn’t realized how long she’d been running—until the moment she couldn’t. The day had unfolded like any other. The pager buzzed. The notes piled up. Her voice moved on autopilot, delivering information, comfort, instructions. Ben…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Physician executive Grace E. Terrell discusses her article, “Physicians must innovate and focus on medicine’s core, not chores.” She introduces the conce…
Ah, burnout! That word is used so often in medicine that it now has its own ICD-10 code. Medical professionals are no strangers to pushing beyond exhaustion, running on fumes, and convincing ourselves that a steady IV drip of caffeine and sheer willpow…
