The Doctor's Art: Recent Episodes
Henry Bair and Tyler Johnson
The practice of medicine–filled with moments of joy, suffering, grace, sorrow, and hope–offers a window into the human condition. Though serving as guides and companions to patients’ illness experiences is profoundly meaningful work, the busy nature of modern medicine can blind its own practitioners to the reasons they entered it in the first place. Join oncologist Tyler Johnson and medical trainee Henry Bair as they meet with doctors, patients, leaders, educators, and others in healthcare, to explore stories on finding and nourishing meaning in medicine. This podcast is for anyone striving for a deeper connection with their medical journey. Visit TheDoctorsArt.com for more information.
GLP-1s have taken the country by storm. Patients are losing and keeping off weight at levels previously only seen through bariatric surgery. Research trials have shown the drugs to be effective at reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death. They protect the kidneys, reduce sleep apnea, and treat fatty liver and peripheral artery disease – all while being studied for a laundry-list of additional indications. The drugs originally designed for glucose control in diabetes are transforming lives — and raising big social questions.
Our guest on this episode is Dr. Marilyn Tan, clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University and chief of the Endocrine Clinic at Stanford Health Care. Dr. Tan focuses on diabetes management in both her clinical practice and research, and she is on the front lines of using GLP1-1s in patient care.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Tan provides a brief history of the development of GLP-1s and describes just how large a leap forward these medications are in weight management. We discuss the patient experience of being on GLP-1s for weight loss – and the stunningly wide array of other uses for the drug beyond weight loss and diabetes. Finally, we discuss the curious effect these medications seem to have on cravings beyond food, and reflect on the use of GLP-1s in the context of an addiction-saturated society.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:37 - Dr. Tan’s path to endocrinology and her work in the field
7:45 - The challenges and rewards inherent in treating a disease like obesity or diabetes that is strongly affected by factors beyond the control of the patient but still requires behavioral interventions
15:45 - The landscape of obesity treatment prior to GLP-1s
22:45 - How GLP-1s function and how they differ from the drugs that came before them
28:10 - Common patient experiences and treatment courses with GLP-1s
35:30 - The growing evidence that GLP-1s can be effective in treating addiction, and the complexity of medicating individuals to address issues with systemic roots
49:00 - Improving your overall health while living a busy life
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
The hospital can be a harsh backdrop to many of life’s most pivotal events. Alarms blare at inopportune times, rounding doctors intrude on delicate conversations, and vigilant nurses disrupt rare periods of rest. All the chaos can add to the stress of a patient’s hospital stay and create an emotionally discordant experience — seemingly out of step with the profound grief, joy, or intimacy one might expect to accompany the weighty moments that happen in the hospital. In the face of this challenging environment, what can be done to connect patients to the emotional threads of their lives — to invite meaning during these critical times? The answer, at least in part, may lie in music.
Our guest on this episode is Melanie Ambler, fourth-year medical student at Stanford and professional cellist. As an undergraduate at Brown, Melanie began researching the intersection of music and medicine. She then completed a Fulbright fellowship in France where her master’s work centered on the effect of music on patients with dementia. Once she got to Stanford, Melanie and her cello Shelby got to work bringing music to hospitalized patients. In 2024, she founded Musical Rounds – a music and storytelling project for patients in palliative care.
Over the course of our conversation, Melanie shares how her musical and medical journeys melded into one. We discuss the power of music to prompt reflection, draw out stories, and even transform the ugliness of the hospital into beauty. Best of all, Melanie plays for us live while sharing her early patient experiences that motivate her work at Musical Rounds — including the launch of her new Musical Rounds podcast.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
3:00 - How playing the cello became a central part of Melanie’s life
13:45 - Melanie play a piece that showcases the beauty of the cello
18:10 - How Melanie became interested in medicine
27:10 - How Melanie merged music and medicine in her research and in the hospital
46:00 - Reflections on the power of music in the lives of physicians
52:00 - How Melanie’s non-profit organization Musical Rounds is working to provide patients moments of reflection through music and storytelling
55:22 - A patient story that exemplifies the power of music at a patient’s bedside
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Many patients interpret their illness through the lens of their religious tradition. Sometimes this process brings hope, comfort, or growth – but other times it compounds their suffering. What are patients supposed to do when they don’t see their lives reflected in the religious stories they cherish? And how can physicians recognize and respond to spiritual suffering that is layered on top of the physical?
Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jonathan Weinkle, clinical assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Weinkle practices Internal and Pediatric medicine at Squirrel Hill Health Center – a health center focused on overcoming economic, cultural, and logistical barriers to health care. He serves as a consultant to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and as the medical director of the Physician Assistant Program at Chatham University. In 2025, he published his book From Illness to Exodus with the goal of helping patients and healers navigate illness – using one of the world’s oldest stories.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Weinkle shares insights from the story of the Jewish Exodus that may help patients feeling trapped in the “narrow place” of illness. We discuss the spiritual and emotional complexity faced by patients whose own illness stories don’t end with a miraculous escape. Finally, we reflect on the importance of healers who understand their patients’ “idioms of distress” and who can attune to their suffering.
On this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:45 - How Dr. Weinkle found his way to a career in Med-Peds, and the many hats he wears in his current work
9:00 - Dr. Weinkle’s views on balancing faith and science in medicine
16:00 - The cultural importance and traditions of Passover in the Jewish faith
21:30 - How the lessons of the Passover can be connected to medicine and healing
28:45 - Why Dr. Weinkle chose to write a book for healers
40:00 - Dr. Weinkle’s advice for identifying and responding to a patient’s taxonomy of distress
47:30 - Attending to suffering when it cannot be ‘fixed’
52:25 - How healers can use ritual to center themselves in their work
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
The creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 enabled millions of Americans to meaningfully access healthcare for the first time — and dramatically increased demand for doctors. The passage of the Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act a few months later enabled tens of thousands of immigrant physicians to migrate to the US. Since then, immigrant physicians have comprised between 25 — 40% of the physician workforce.
Our guest on this episode is Professor Eram Alam, associate professor of history at Harvard. Alam specializes in the history of medicine, race, migration, and health during the twentieth century. In 2025, she published The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare.
Over the course of our conversation, Professor Alam traces the legal, economic, and geopolitical factors that led to the US depending on immigrant physicians to care for many of the country’s most vulnerable populations. We explore how American attitudes toward immigration have shifted over time and how the current state of politics has created a jarring disconnect: many patients depend on care from immigrant physicians and yet continue to view immigrants as un-American. Finally, Professor Alam reminds us how remembering everyone feels a little out of place, can help us see the person in front of us more fully.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - Dr. Alam’s work as a professor and historian of healthcare and medicine
7:30 - The background for Dr. Alam’s book The Care of Foreigners.
13:00 - The story behind the 1965 legislation that led to the mass employment of physician immigrants in the US
22:10 - How the role of immigrant physicians in the US healthcare system complicates the idea of meritocracy in medicine
29:00 - The ways in which US immigration policy has changed the experience for foreign-born doctors over time
33:45 - Dr. Alam’s view of how current immigration crackdowns fit into the larger historical narrative of US immigration
45:36 - How dehumanizing political rhetoric surrounding immigrants can blind us to the humanity of those who care for us
53:26 - The unifying power in acknowledging discomfort in ourselves and others
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
The epidemic of physician burnout isn’t just a personal problem. Burned out doctors are more likely to make mistakes, less likely to follow preventative care guidelines, and more likely to have dissatisfied patients. When a burned out physician leaves an institution or quits all together, it can cost north of a million dollars to replace them. Unwell doctors lead to unwell patients — and an unwell health care system. The toll that the burnout epidemic has taken on physicians, patients, and even the bottom-line requires more than individual adaptation on the part of physicians. It requires a grass-roots movement to heal the healers.
Our guest on this episode is Mary Brandt, MD — pediatric surgeon and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Medical Ethics at Baylor College of Medicine. Over the course of her clinical career, Dr. Brandt published over 245 peer reviewed publications, 26 chapters, and 2 books. She became particularly attuned to the suffering of trainees and physicians while serving as General Surgery Program Director and Dean of Student Affairs at Baylor, and she subsequently obtained a Master of Divinity Degree to better understand and articulate what she was observing. Dr. Brandt is a persistent advocate for physician wellness and correcting systemic issues in medicine.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Brandt describes the moment she felt called to surgery, her fruitless efforts to resist this calling, and how the combination of competence and humility allowed her to manage the pressure of operating on children. We explore the evolution of the physician-wellness movement and why the health care system cannot afford to ignore the wellness of its physicians. Finally, Dr. Brandt posits that the hard work of compassion is what can sustain physicians long term.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - Dr. Brandt’s unexpected path to becoming a pediatric surgeon
11:00 - Dr. Brandt’s mental approach to the high stakes work of pediatric surgery
27:49 - The disconnect between the work of healing and the business side of medicine
38:15 - How Dr. Brandt’s studies in liberation theology have influenced her vision for the healthcare system and medical practice
42:00 - The three shifts healers can make to collectively change medicine
48:20 - The ‘practice’ of compassion and how it can protect physicians from burnout
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
The electronic medical record (EMR) has become an unwelcome interloper in the exam room. Too often, patients find themselves answering questions delivered from behind a monitor by physicians hurriedly typing away. This isn’t the kind of care anyone wants — but it’s what the system demands. Thankfully, change may be on the horizon. AI scribes are now being rolled out in EMRs across the country, capable of listening to a visit, generating a clinic note, and freeing the physician to be present with their patient. But these scribes are only an opening act of a much larger experiment — one that asks not merely whether AI can redeem the medical record, but whether it can usher in something closer to a Golden Age of medicine.
Our guest on this episode is Bob Wachter, MD, professor and chair of medicine at UCSF and a leading voice in hospital medicine and administration. In 1996, he and his colleague Lee Goldman coined the term “hospitalist,” giving rise to what has become the fastest growing specialty in the history of modern medicine. He has authored over 300 articles and 6 books, including the New York Times bestseller The Digital Doctor (2015) and A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future (2026).
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Wachter traces how a long-held fascination with systems drew him into studying medicine's digital transformation over the past 15 years — a period spanning the turbulent rollout of electronic medical records and now the arrival of AI. We explore the bumpy history of adopting powerful but general-purpose technologies, how such technologies force complex industries to reshape themselves, and humanity's humbling track record of predicting what comes next. Dr. Wachter makes the case that AI's integration into medicine constitutes the biggest experiment the field has ever undertaken, and explains why he believes it will ultimately resolve many of the health care system's deepest problems and elevate the practice of medicine itself.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:46 - Dr. Watcher’s path to medicine and to his study of digital transformation
8:06 - The wins and losses of the transition to electronic medical records
26:45 - Why Dr. Watcher is optimistic that AI will deliver a “golden age” for medicine
37:30 - Contending with the potential dangers of AI in the revenue-focused medical industry
50:30 - Dr. Watcher’s view on if there will always be an important place for doctors in the future
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
In recent years, Silicon Valley has imagined for us a new way of life – one where almost anyone can be a twenty or thirty-something-year-old with a supernatural glow, toned physique, understated intelligence, and a superabundance of vitality. This is not reality for most people, even for the twenty or thirty-something-year-olds, but medicine and technology originally intended to help people achieve baseline health are increasingly being leveraged to close the gap. This raises the question: what is medicine for? Is medicine about restoring people to some definition of “normal” health? And if so, what about all the people contentedly living in bodies considered medically abnormal?
Our guest is Devan Stahl, author, clinical ethicist, and professor of bioethics and religion at Baylor University. Professor Stahl received her PhD in Health Care Ethics from St. Louis University, before completing her Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt University. Her scholarship focuses on disability theology and bioethics, and her most recent books include Disability's Challenge to Theology (2022) and Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body (2023). In addition to her scholarly work, Stahl volunteers as a clinical ethicist with the Supportive and Palliative Care Team at her local hospital.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss whether it is the role of a clinical ethicist to determine what is “right” in a given situation – and if so, how that is accomplished. We explore how Silicon Valley’s promotion of the “optimized” human raises questions about the purpose of medicine, and the various ways medicine defines the idea of “normal” health. Stahl shares her experience in the healthcare system as someone with multiple sclerosis, cautioning that some providers are more comfortable focusing on the digitized version of someone’s disability than on the person themselves. Together, we imagine a doctor’s role not just in restoring patients to normality, but guiding them to flourish.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:19 - The questions that have driven Stahl’s academic career as a professor of bioethics and religion.
5:00 - The types of requests Stahl receives as a bioethicist at her local hospital.
12:51 - How Silicon Valley is skewing public perception of “health” — and the questions this raises about the purpose of medicine.
20:12 - Stahl’s experience navigating uncomfortable and confusing medical encounters as a person with disability herself.
25:24 - Stahl’s take on the “purpose” of modern medicine.
29:48 - Ways in which our society tends to value certain kinds of bodies over others.
39:36 - Imagining the role of physicians in helping patients flourish.
44:55 - How health care professionals can find deeper meaning in their work and lives.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Electronic Medical Records have transformed the way we practice health care, making patient data readily accessible to health care providers, facilitating collaboration within and across large medical teams, increasing transparency, and drastically improving the legibility of patient charts and prescriptions. But despite these benefits, many physicians cite the electronic medical record as a primary driver of burnout, pointing to the overwhelming volume of documentation it requires. In this episode, we explore how the launch of EMRs within the context of America’s predominantly fee-for-service health care system led to the technology falling short of its promise — and how transitioning to value-based care models might redeem the technology, revitalize physicians, and recenter public health.
Our guest on this episode is Farzad Mostashari, MD. After completing a degree in public health at Harvard, medical school at Yale, and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Mostashari spent over a decade working in public health: first for the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service and then for the New York City Department of Health. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services where he helped oversee the nationwide transition from paper to electronic medical records. In 2014, he founded Aledade, a company that helps primary care physicians form value-based care networks in the US.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Mostashari shares how his childhood in Iran pushed him towards public health, how his experience watching his father being cared for in the hospital drove him towards medicine, and how he has spent his career in the liminal space between public health and medicine. We discuss the rollout of EMRs, and how fee-for-service payment models led to EMRs being optimized for documentation rather than patient care. We explore how value-based care not only solves the problem of over-documentation, but also better aligns the goals of patients, physicians, and even insurance companies. Dr. Mostashari maps out the progress we have made toward this kind of model and the hurdles we have to clear before we have a system that incentivizes preventing stroke as much as treating stroke.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:35 - How Dr. Mostashari became drawn to the intersection between the intimate work of doctoring and the wide lens work of public health.
12:12 - Dr. Mostashari’s experiences modernizing health IT systems and learning to optimize for the number of lives saved rather than the number of technological solutions implemented.
16:05 - Dr. Mostashari’s assessment of the rollout of the electronic medical record in the US.
25:09 - How Aledade frees primary care physicians to prioritize patient outcomes and reduces the burden of EMR documentation.
38:57 - What the US can learn from international health care systems.
41:00 - Challenges in transitioning to outcome-based models of primary care.
50:30 - How Dr. Mostashari’s medical training has shaped his career in public health.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Over the past 160 episodes, two themes that have appeared repeatedly feel as relevant and urgent as ever are 1) the pros and dehumanizing cons of technology and 2) approaching suffering in the human experience. In this episode, we are excited to bring back a panel of notable past guests to discuss the interplay between medicine, suffering, technology, and the human experience.
We are joined by historian Christine Rosen, PhD, philosopher Mikolaj Slawkowski-Rode, PhD, and palliative care physician Sunita Puri, MD. Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute whose work is focused on American history, society and culture, technology and culture, and feminism. Slawkowski-Rode is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw and research fellow at the University of Oxford with a current emphasis on the philosophy of science and religion. Dr. Puri is a palliative care physician, associate professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, and author of the critically acclaimed book That Good Night (2019).
As a panel, we consider a prominent aspect of the unwritten curriculum of medicine: how medicine often considers suffering and sorrow to be fixable and their eradication to be a metric of medical success. We explore ways digital technology can make our lives easier without making them better, and the pressing need to define and defend the (non-digital) human experience. We propose that the goal is not to eradicate all suffering, but to reduce needless suffering without denying the forms that accompany love, growth, and moral responsibility. When suffering is treated as an intolerable defect, we can become preoccupied with self-protection and less available to one another. The first and most important gift a caregiver can give is their undivided attention and the biggest mistake we can make in medicine is turning away from suffering. Finally, we ponder if for both patients and physicians, life, in the end, is meant to be a mystery.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
6:37 – Unlearning preconceived perspectives on suffering, technology, and human experience.
13:08 – Engaging with digital technology critically instead of presuming that technological progress is inherently good.
19:28 – Suffering as an irradicable and sometimes necessary element of the human condition.
27:50 – Helping young terminal patients grapple with their diagnosis as a palliative care doctor.
36:36 – How the pursuit of immortality can lead to moral sickness.
47:08 – How digital technologies are inciting a collective disembodiment from reality.
53:15 – Practices that will positively impact the modern lived experience.
Explore our guests’ past episodes on The Doctor’s Art:
Human Experience in A Digital World | Christine Rosen, PhD
A Philosophy of Grief | Mikolaj Slawkowski-Rode, PhD
The Beauty of Impermanence | Sunita Puri, MD
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Most medical encounters are structured as transactions. The patient comes in with a specific complaint, the medical expert identifies a discrete problem, and a specific intervention is prescribed.
But at the heart of a medical encounter is a story. When a patient comes in with a medical problem, the problem cannot be disentangled from their life’s narrative — doing so risks hollowing out the essence of what it means to care for another person.
Our guest on this episode is award-winning author, and primary care physician Suzanne Koven, MD. Following the completion of her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Koven joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and practiced primary care medicine at Massachusetts General for 32 years. In 2019, she became the inaugural Writer in Residence at Mass General. Her writings have been published broadly—including in The Boston Globe, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and The New Yorker. As a teacher and public speaker, she highlights the relationship between literature and medicine, and is a powerful advocate for female medical trainees.
In this episode, Dr. Koven shares her journey to medicine at a time when few women were represented in the field and why she finds her undergraduate English classes to be more relevant to her clinical work than her science classes. We discuss narrative medicine, its value to patients and physicians alike, and how the modern healthcare system struggles to value the patient story. Finally, Dr. Koven leaves us with her advice for up-and-coming trainees: find a place in medicine where you can be yourself – for your own good and for your patients’.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - Dr. Koven’s motivations for going into primary care medicine
15:49 - The impact that Dr. Koven’s English degree has had on her approach to medicine
19:36 - What narrative medicine is
24:34 - What is lost when human connection and human story are deprioritized within the practice of medicine
31:15 - The benefits doctors experience when cultivating an appreciation for the arts
37:21 - How gender representation in medicine has shaped Dr. Koven’s experience as a physician
42:54 - The need for the culture of medicine to adapt to changing demographics in the medical workforce
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Dr. Bryant Lin is a primary care physician, educator, and researcher at Stanford University. In 2018, he founded CARE – the Center for Asian Health Research and Education. In 2023, CARE began a focused research effort investigating lung cancer in non-smoking Asians. In 2024, Dr. Lin was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, having never smoked in his life.
After his diagnosis, Dr. Lin sprung into action. He began receiving care from Dr. Heather Wakelee – a Stanford oncologist specializing in lung cancer. Dr Wakelee is the Deputy Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute, the Division Chief of Medical Oncology, and a leader in the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. In this episode, we are privileged to be joined by both Dr. Lin and his oncologist, Dr. Wakelee.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Lin describes the experience of receiving and living with a diagnosis that has been life changing for both him and his family. He details his remarkable efforts to leverage his diagnosis for the good of patients and rising medical professionals — and explains how spiritual practices have helped sustain him through this difficult time. Dr. Wakelee shares her approach to first visits with patients facing daunting cancer diagnoses, how she approaches grief, and the unique privilege and challenge of treating a colleague. Together, the doctor and his physician explore the value of hope in cancer, the dangers of false hope, and the importance of maximizing meaning in life — however much time is left.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:50 - Dr. Lin’s experience of being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer despite having never smoked
14:20 - Dr. Wakelee’s approach to first visits with newly diagnosed lung cancer patients
25:35 - Dr. Lin’s experience of shifting from the mindset of “doctor” to the mindset of “patient”
30:30 - How a doctor’s messaging can affect the patient’s outlook on their diagnosis
43:00 - The common themes prevalent across religions and spiritual orientations that support patients in the navigation of serious illness
50:24 - Advice to doctors for finding deeper meaning in medicine
Listen to Dr. Lin’s first appearance on The Doctor’s Art.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026
Many of us quietly accept the idea that our best self lives somewhere in the past — that youth is the ideal and aging is a slow erosion of who we really are. But what if getting older isn’t about losing our identity, but deepening it? What if the second half of life could be defined not by decline, but by “joyspan”—our capacity for meaning, connection, and contentment as we age?
Our guest on this episode is gerontologist and author Kerry Burnight, PhD. As a professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Dr. Burnight spent 16 years caring for older adults suffering neglect and abuse. She co-founded the nation’s first Elder Abuse Forensic Center, bringing together medicine, adult protective services, and law enforcement to protect vulnerable older adults. Her search for how to help people not just avoid harm, but truly thrive into their later decades led to her work on joyspan, culminating in her New York Times best-selling book Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half (2025). Her work has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, and Forbes Health.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Burnight details the experience of working with older adults suffering from neglect and abuse, the importance of team camaraderie for getting through dark moments, and the need to humanize people going through dehumanizing situations. We discuss joyspan as well-being and fulfillment combined with longevity; how focusing on growing, connecting, adapting, and giving can increase joyspan; how the internalized belief that we have less to offer as we age threatens joyspan; and how older adults are uniquely positioned to contribute to society. Dr. Burnight reminds us that joyspan is a health habit, and the best time to start focusing on this health habit is today.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - The story behind the first Elder Abuse Forensics Center
11:45 - Dr. Burnight’s advice for frontline workers navigating cases of elder abuse
15:05 - How social connection improves health outcomes
24:00 - Defining joy and how joy can coexist with aging
33:15 - How our personal outlook on aging can impact our aging experience
44:30 - The four elements of joyspan
48:30 - Ways to build meaning into your life
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Many of the world’s best physicians find it surprisingly difficult to answer the question: Why are you in medicine? In the long, arduous journey of medical training or within the technocratically-minded healthcare system, one can easily get lost in the life of the mind—and become estranged from the life of the heart.
Our guest on this episode is Brewer Eberly, MD, a third-generation family physician and a fellow at Duke Divinity School’s Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative. Dr. Eberly grew up listening to physicians in his family discuss their work and was drawn to how life’s biggest questions are present in medicine. Now, his research focuses on the intersections of medicine, aesthetics, and theology — with a special focus on the “nourishment of weary clinicians.”
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Eberly shares how his early interests in art and literature continue to shape his life and work, and how the privilege of accompanying patients in all stages of life motivates his practice. We discuss how family medicine requires practitioners to have something to say about the well-lived life, and how this kind of wisdom is forged in silent contemplation. Finally, Dr. Eberly concludes with a profound and personal reflection on the question: What does it mean to willingly receive the suffering of someone that you cannot fix?
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
2:36 - Dr. Eberly’s medical and creative origin stories
10:45 - What makes family medicine unique, and Dr. Eberly’s approach to his work
22:30 - How Dr. Eberly tries to stay connected to the meaning of medicine
29:00 - The “Good Surgeon Project”
37:45 - Dr. Eberly’s view of the limitations of artificial intelligence in medicine
43:30 - Ways of engaging with and being present for the suffering of patients
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
We often confuse happiness with the absence of sadness, or a meaningful life with a productive one. The result might be a life that runs smoothly, but feels strangely flat — as if something essential is missing from the story. What if a truly good life isn’t just happy and meaningful, but also interesting?
Our guest today is Shige Oishi, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and author of Life in Three Dimensions (2025). Oishi pioneered the idea of psychological richness — the notion that a good life requires a diverse set of interesting, even disorienting experiences. As an expert in social ecology and well-being, his work spans more than 200 scientific articles and has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
Over the course of our conversation, professor Oishi traces his own journey from an undergraduate in booming-economy Tokyo — surrounded by overworked, unhappy adults — to a career in psychology in the United States, where seeing professors live differently opened his eyes to alternative ways of being. We explore how cultures like Japan, the United States, Finland, and Denmark differ in what they chase and expect from life; why small, everyday joys and high-quality relationships matter more than grand achievements; and how “success” and “ambition” can quietly shape our sense of happiness.
We then dive into psychological richness as a third dimension of the good life alongside happiness and meaning — one defined by variety, newness, and memorable stories, often colored by both positive and negative emotions. We discuss the risks of chasing only stability and efficiency; the importance of spontaneity; and the surprisingly simple ways we can cultivate psychological richness by staying curious and saying “yes” more often.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - Oishi’s path to studying the psychology of wellbeing
8:45 - Rising competitiveness in American culture and how it is affecting lifelong happiness
13:30 - Why Finland and Denmark are regularly rated the happiest countries
15:55 - Whether there is a “correct” way to find meaning and happiness
19:15 - What it means to be “psychologically rich”
28:00 - Balancing positive and negative emotions in a happy, meaningful, and psychologically rich life
41:30 - Developing psychological richness
45:45 - How psychological richness can help address physician burnout
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
When a religious person is isolated from their community, whether due to hospitalization or military service, they can often rely on a chaplain for spiritual support. But where does a non-religious person turn when facing the same circumstances? And what tools do they have for meaning making?
Our guest is Greg Epstein, humanist chaplain at Harvard and MIT and author of the New York Times bestselling book Good Without God. As a humanist chaplain, Greg has spent his career building ethical communities that are united around the idea that human sociality and interdependence are a sufficient foundation for a meaningful life. Greg’s writings have been published widely, including in TIME magazine and The Washington Post, and he is a prominent public speaker in humanist and interfaith communities.
In our conversation, Greg explains the role of a humanist chaplain, why a humanist chaplain is not necessarily an oxymoron, and how he guides individuals on their meaning-making journey. We discuss Greg’s candidate for the world’s most powerful word and a humanist’s argument for pursuing the work of healing over wealth. And finally, Greg walks us through the thesis of his most recent book Tech Agnostic – how technology has become a religion of its own, with a particular set of downsides.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:30 - Mr Epstein’s personal definitions of ‘chaplain’ and ‘religion’
8:23 - How Mr. Epstein uses a humanist framework to guide meaning-making
24:35 - Is there an absolute ‘good’?
33:25 - The risks of technology as a religion
45:30 - Advice for medical professionals engaged in the work of healing while operating within a system built for profit
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Many medical trainees are driven to medicine by their moral or religious principles — only to find that they are expected to check their principles at the patient’s door. When this happens, physicians and patients may lose the opportunity for deeper, more healing relationships.
Our guest on this episode is Dr. Farr Curlin, a hospitalist and palliative care physician at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Curlin holds joint appointments in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine and Duke Divinity School, where he studies the intersection of medicine, ethics, and religion.
From a young age, Dr. Curlin was intrigued by the moral dimensions of medicine. As a medical trainee, he began to study how the religious backgrounds of physicians inform their practice. He is the co-author of The Way of Medicine, in which he challenges the modern “provider of services” model and calls for a recovery of medicine’s spiritual foundations as a healing profession. Now, at Duke Divinity School, he spends significant time helping physicians re-center their practice around the question: “What is Good?”
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss attitudes toward religion in the medical profession and how many medical professionals worry that being openly religious may make them seem retrograde — or worse. We explore striking the balance between offering physician wisdom while respecting patient autonomy, consider whether the project of medicine makes sense when viewed through the lens of secular humanism, and reflect on how the physician attributes of humility and respect enable physicians to productively bring their full selves to the bedside, all while practicing medicine within a morally pluralistic society.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:48 - Dr. Curlin’s path to medicine and what drew him to a career at the intersection of religion and medicine
19:30 - Dr. Curlin’s thoughts on why doctors often feel they cannot be openly religious
35:45 - How Dr. Curlin would change medical training to create a deeper focus on personal commitments and moral conviction
41:15 - Exploring the limitations of artificial agnosticism at the patient’s bedside
51:50 - How fostering a spiritual connection to the work of healing can mitigate burnout
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Medical trainees spend years mastering what to do when biology fails — countless protocols, procedures, and split-second decisions. By the end, they’re primed to fix what’s broken. But what if the mandate of medicine is simpler — and more human?
Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jessica Zitter — a physician, author, and filmmaker who has spent her career at the fault line between intensive care and palliative care. Dr. Zitter was initially drawn to the technical choreography in the ICU: numbers to chase, procedures to perform. Yet, along the way, she began to notice the danger we rarely name — that in our devotion to protocol, we might drift away from the person in front of us.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Zitter shares personal experiences that have shaped her approach to medicine. We talk about moral injury and how it compounds: when systems push us to act against our values, care gets worse, and the hurt deepens. We talk about how bias slips in when power meets prejudice at the bedside and why chaplains — so often sidelined — can be essential guides back to the human being we’re treating. Her prescription is simple: treat patients as you’d want your own loved ones to be treated. Ask for the story. Reconstruct the person we’ve taken apart into smaller pieces.
Dr. Zitter is the author of her memoir Extreme Measures, appears in the Academy Award-nominated short film Extremis, and is the director of several documentaries, including 2025’s The Chaplain & the Doctor.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:45 - Dr. Zitter’s path to a career in intensive care medicine
4:52 - A day in the life of an intensivist
17:42 - Dr. Zitter’s unexpected pivot to prioritizing palliative care in her work
26:41 - The inspiration for Dr. Zitter’s film The Chaplain and the Doctor
38:36 - How chaplaincy attends to the soul of the patient and what doctors can learn from this perspective
42:51 - Navigating internalized bias as a doctor
49:42 - Dr. Zitter’s advice for her younger self
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Editorial Note:
This episode was recorded in December 2024, after the nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services had been announced but prior to his confirmation. Some comments by the podcast hosts and our guest will reflect this timing.
Elephants rarely get cancer, ants quarantine when sick, and altruistic pigs have a higher pain tolerance. In this episode, we discuss insights from the animal world that shed light on human health and wellness, as well as the power of data driven narratives in effective public health education.
Our guest is Dr. David Agus, founding CEO of the Ellison Medical Institute and professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California. As a CBS news contributor and author of three New York Times best selling books on health, Dr. Agus emphasizes the need for experts who are willing to explain rather than tell.
Having experienced the politicization of public health during the pandemic, he highlights the importance of data transparency and the urgency for more physician leaders. With technological advances making data collection and analysis ever more accessible, Dr. Agus shares a vision for the future of medicine, where patients bring their own health data to the clinic and physicians act as educators guided by the values of their patients.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:30 - Dr. Agus’s journey to medicine and how he found his way to focusing on preventative health and public education
6:50 - Navigating the politicized nature of public health as a public health educator
14:17 - Dr. Agus’s viewpoint on the controversial nominations of RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz
19:51 - How the education of doctor needs to change to adapt to our newly data driven world
24:20 - The current state of nutrition science and how people can make the best choices with the current data available on the topic
32:12 - The potential benefits of making big data in electronic medical records available to physicians
32:48 - The inspiration behind Dr. Agus’s new book, The Book of Animal Secrets, and what the animal kingdom can teach us as humans about living a more fulfilling and healthy life
52:11 - A vision for empowering patients with their personal medical data in the age of AI
54:31 - Dr. Agus’s advice to clinicians on supporting patients with their preventative health
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Imagine practicing medicine not within the sterile confines of a hospital, but in the unpredictable world of city streets and shelters, where every patient encounter challenges conventional notions of care, empathy, and human dignity. We explore this reality through the extraordinary journey of Jim O'Connell, MD, whose groundbreaking work with Boston's homeless population has profoundly reshaped health care for society's most marginalized individuals.
Dr. O'Connell is the founding president of the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. In this episode, Dr. O’Connell shares stories from his extensive frontline experience, detailing the unique challenges of treating patients facing complex medical and psychiatric conditions exacerbated by unstable living conditions. From addressing devastating public health crises such as AIDS and tuberculosis to establishing consistent mental health care, he provides profound insights into what makes healthcare effective for homeless populations. He also reflects on a formative early experience — being asked by nurses to wash patients feet — that deeply influenced his understanding of empathy and the essence of medical service. Through these reflections, we gain a powerful appreciation for the depth of patience, relational care, and respect required in caring for vulnerable communities.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:00 - Dr. O’Connell’s unexpected path to medicine
11:34 - The distinction between a “country doctor” and a doctor who works in an academic setting
13:42 - How Dr. O’Connell began working with homeless populations
20:30 - The difficulties doctors faced in the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
29:14 - Navigating the compounding challenges of access and continuity among the homeless population
37:12 - What has kept Dr. O’Connell dedicated to treating this population for 30+ years
51:24 - Dr. O’Connell’s recommendations to clinicians on how to compassionately serve the homeless
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
The relationship between physicians and the larger healthcare system is incredibly complex, raising difficult questions about patient care, advocacy, and the role of doctors in shaping public policy. In this episode, we explore these critical issues and the realities faced by healthcare providers today.
Our guest is Bruce Scott, MD, an otolaryngologist and 2024 – 2025 President of the American Medical Association (AMA). Motivated by a serious childhood injury and the life changing care he received, Dr. Scott subsequently pursued a career dedicated to surgery and health care advocacy. In this conversation, he shares his experiences as a surgeon, dealing with intricate procedures and urgent decisions, and discusses the importance of physician involvement in healthcare policy amid today's deeply polarized environment.
Dr. Scott reflects on his own path to leadership within the AMA and underscores the impact that organized medicine can have on public health, health care access, and physician well-being. He provides insights into how the AMA navigates complex political challenges, addresses physician burnout, and promotes practical solutions to administrative burdens. We also discuss emerging issues such as the responsible integration of artificial intelligence in clinical settings, rebuilding patient trust in medical expertise, and the broader implications of physician burnout and mental health.
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
2:48 - The life-changing injury that led Dr. Scott to a career as an a surgeon
14:34 - How Dr. Scott became involved with advocacy at the American Medical Association
21:27 - How the AMA’s work has been altered by the high levels of politicization around medicine
28:27 - The challenges that physicians struggle with today
32:47 - How the AMA works to maintain the public’s trust in doctors and the medical establishment
37:33 - The AMA’s plan for navigating AI integration in a way that benefits doctors, not healthcare and insurance companies
42:33 - How the AMA approaches the epidemic of physician burnout
49:14 - Dr. Scott‘s recommendations for how to get involved in policy and advocacy.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
George Mark Children's House is a pediatric palliative care center in California that provides respite and hospice for children with serious illnesses and their families. In March 2025, we heard the personal story of the House’s director. In this episode, we have been invited on site to speak with someone whose life has been touched by the House.
Our guests are Kaitlyn, a young woman living with epilepsy, her mother Liz, and Kyle, a child life specialist. Kaitlyn has lived with seizures since she was two years old. Over the years, the condition has shaped nearly every aspect of her life, from her time in and out of hospitals to the way she relates to friends, school, and her own identity. In this conversation, she talks about what it feels like to have a seizure, what she's learned from years of living with uncertainty, and how art, humor, and relationships have helped her make sense of it all. Liz, her mother, shares what it was like to first notice something was wrong, how hard it was to find her footing in a world of medical jargon and evolving diagnoses, and what long term caregiving has taught her about patience, advocacy, and perspective.
This is not a story about overcoming illness or finding easy silver linings. It's a story about making room for a full life with joy, difficulty, grief, and connection, often all at once. And it's about the role of a place like George Mark, which offers families something rare — not just health care, but space to feel human in the midst of it all.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:20 - Kaitlyn’s epilepsy experience, through both her and her mother’s eyes
14:00 - How Kaitlyn developed a positive outlook on epilepsy
16:30 - How Kaitlyn’s family found George Mark Children’s House
23:30 - The role of a child life specialist
28:15 - Supporting a child through the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges of their illness
29:56 - How epilepsy has shaped Kaitlyn’s views on life’s priorities and challenges, and how it has shaped her mother’s view of parenting
40:00 - Kyle’s perspectives on helping children and families through some of life’s toughest experiences
43:08 - The qualities that Kaitlyn feels a doctor should have to best connect with their patients
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
If you were asked to build a medical school from scratch, how would you do it? It's not a chance most of us get — but that was exactly the task given to our guest on this episode, Sharmila Makhija, MD, MBA. Dr. Makhija is a gynecologic oncologist by training, a clinician who has spent her career working with patients through some of life's most vulnerable and uncertain moments. She has also served as chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Montefiore Health System in New York, and before that, at Emory University.
Most recently, and most notably, she is Founding Dean of the new Alice Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas. Here, she has taken on the ambitious and deeply human task of creating a medical school that doesn't just teach medicine, but reimagines its purpose. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Makhija shares how her parents were instrumental to helping her find meaning in medicine, how she accompanies patients through serious illnesses, and the quiet but transformative power of presence. We then hear how she got the opportunity to create a new medical school — so new, in fact, that they are matriculating their first class in July 2025 — and her vision for preparing future doctors to face the technological, societal and professional uncertainties of medicine in the coming decades.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:45 - What drew Dr. Makhija to a career in medicine, and specifically to her clinical focus in gynecological oncology
11:10 - How Dr. Makhija learned how to support patients through some of the hardest moments of their lives, and her advice on guiding patients through a poor prognosis
25:22 - Dr. Makhija’s to becoming Founding Dean of the Alice Walton School of Medicine
32:00 - The school’s approach to creating a new medical curriculum
45:51 - Experiences that have surprised Dr. Makhija on her leadership journey
48:38 - How Dr. Makhija plans to equip her students to face the rapid changes that are transforming the medical field
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
What happens to the practice of medicine when machines begin to reason, summarize and even empathize — at least in the linguistic sense — better than humans do?
In this episode, we meet with Michael Howell, MD, MPH, Chief Clinical Officer at Google, to explore the seismic shifts underway in healthcare as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded in clinical workflows. Dr. Howell, a pulmonary and critical care physician, has spent his career at the crossroads of clinical excellence and systems innovation. Before joining Google, he served as chief quality officer at University of Chicago Medicine. At Google, he leads the development and implementation of AI technologies intended to support scalable, safe and equitable medical care.
Over the course of our conversation, we examine what AI is and isn't. We delve into how large language models are reshaping the cognitive labor of clinicians, the implications of machines that may someday outperform humans in diagnosis, and whether there is something inherently human about healing that algorithms will never capture. Along the way, we discuss not only the promises of AI, but also its hidden dangers, ethical landmines, and the enduring question — in a future defined by ever smarter machines. What does it mean to be a good doctor?
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:43 - Dr. Howell’s path to medicine and eventually to becoming Chief Clinical Officer at Google
6:45 - Why examining the differences between theory and implementation of technology matters
17:35 - The evolution of AI and its clinical capabilities
26:05 - The definition of “thinking” in the age of AI
36:11 - How AI could change the landscape of healthcare on a global scale
50:26 - The ethics of using — and not using — AI in medicine
54:36 - The role of a doctor in 20 years
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
If you could be plugged into a machine that simulated the perfect experience — limitless joy, deep connection, a sense of purpose — yet you knew it wasn't real, would you choose to stay plugged in?
This isn't just a philosophical exercise. As our lives become increasingly digitized, our relationships filtered through screens, our emotions managed by algorithms, our attention parceled out to feeds and notifications, we are confronted with a deeper question: what does it mean to have an authentic experience anymore?
Our guest on this episode is Christine Rosen, a writer and cultural critic whose book The Extinction of Experience (2024) explores how the virtualization of our world is transforming not just our habits, but our inner lives. Drawing from philosophy, neuroscience, and her own reflections, Rosen examines what we lose when direct embodied experience gives way to digital mediation, whether that's our connection to the natural world, our relationships, or even our own sense of self.
The repercussions for medicine are profound. In an era where care is often delivered through screens, where patients track their bodies through apps and data, and where wellness is increasingly conflated with optimization, how do we preserve what is human in the doctor-patient relationship, and how do patients navigate their own sense of health and wholeness in a world that so often substitutes simulation for substance?
This is a conversation that cuts deep into one of the most pressing cultural currents of our time and its implications for how we connect, how we heal, and how we find meaning in being alive.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - How Rosen came to focus her career on the history of technology
5:51 - Why we should think proactively about the effects of technological advances on our behavior and society
11:40 - How modern technology has encouraged impatience and disconnect with other humans
27:06 - Why we should stop seeing technology as a means to “solve” or “overcome” human behavior
37:23 - The epidemic of loneliness that exists despite unprecedented levels of technological interconnectivity
45:37 - The moral challenges in our society’s attempt to end boredom, discomfort, and suffering
54:28 - How to think and act critically about the relentless march of technology
57:17 - What we can do to make our lives flourish
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
There is something uniquely haunting about many neurological diseases. These conditions often don't only affect the body — they reshape the very foundation of who we are, our memories, our personalities, our language. When the brain begins to fail, the boundary between illness and identity start to blur; the person we know begins to fade even before their life has ended.
In this episode, we are joined by John Rhee, MD, MPH, a neuro-oncologist and palliative care physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, whose work sits at the intersection of science, suffering, and the soul. He cares for patients with brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases, conditions that challenge our deepest assumptions about selfhood, dignity, and what it means to live a meaningful life. Dr. Rhee is also the co-founder and executive director of The Hippocratic Society, a community of clinicians that aims to cultivate virtues that characterize good medical practitioners and ideals that make medicine a sacred profession.
Over the course of our conversation, we talk about suffering — not just physical pain, but the existential kind. We explore how the brain anchors our identity, how its decline confronts us with profound questions, how medical education can improve by training doctors to be more reflective in their work, why an element of spirituality remains critical to medicine, what it means to accompany someone through decline, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - Dr. Rhee‘s path to medicine
6:30 - The general scope of focus for a neuro-oncologist
16:07 - Understanding the brain from both medical and existential perspectives
26:36 - The mission of The Hippocratic Society
40:45 - Why “virtue” is central to the focus of The Hippocratic Society
49:34 - How to get involved with The Hippocratic Society
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Neurosurgery is known as one of the most precise and demanding specialties in medicine. It requires absolute technical mastery in a surgical field where a millimeter’s difference can be the deciding factor between lifelong disability or a life restored. But what happens when a surgeon trained to be objective and detached experiences deep personal loss? How does it reshape the way they practice medicine?
In this episode, we are joined by Joseph “Jody” Stern, MD, a neurosurgeon and the author of Grief Connects Us: A Neurosurgeon's Lessons on Love, Loss, and Compassion (2021). His book is an honest, deep, personal reflection on how losing his sister shattered the emotional armor he had built as a surgeon — and in doing so, made him a better doctor. Over the course of this conversation,
Dr. Stern discusses the complexity of neurosurgery and what it teaches about the fragility of life; why the way we talk to patients and families matters just as much as the procedures we perform; how his own grief changed the way he approaches medicine; and the pressure in medicine to stay emotionally detached and why that might actually be harming both doctors and patients. This is a conversation that extends beyond grief. It's about how we, as doctors, patients, and people, can show up for each other in ways that truly matter.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:37 - How Dr. Stern became drawn to neurosurgery and what has kept him in the field
6:00 - Dr. Stern’s quest to integrate palliative care into neurosurgery
10:06 - Why medical training often makes it hard for trainees to remember their humanistic calling
15:54 - The importance of shifting medical training to focus to more on patient-centered care
23:41 - Rethinking medicine to better honor the humanity of the patient
31:41 - Developing “emotional agility” as a physician
37:09 - The personal and professional insights that Dr. Stern experienced when he helped his sister through her battle with leukemia
47:47 - How to overcome compassion fatigue
54:15 - Dr. Stern’s advice for new clinicians
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
In medicine, we are trained to fight for life — to extend it, preserve it and restore it. But sometimes the goal shifts from curing to comforting. That, in brief, is the essence of palliative care. It compels us to ask what it means to truly care for a person at the end of life, not as a failure of medicine but as a profound act of love.
In this episode, we enter a space where time slows down, where every moment is cherished, and where medicine is tantamount to presence, dignity, and grace. George Mark Children's House in California is the first freestanding pediatric palliative care center in the United States, a place where children with serious, life-limiting conditions can spend their time in a home-like setting and live fully, where families find respite, and where end-of-life care is infused with humanity and meaning. It's a place that helps families navigate one of the hardest journeys imaginable, offering not just medical support, but also emotional and spiritual care.
Joining us is Shekinah Eliassen, CEO of George Mark Children's House, who has dedicated her life to reimagining how we care for children with complex and terminal illnesses. She opens up about how the loss of her first son drives her work to this day. We'll explore the essence of pediatric palliative care, the misconceptions, the difficult conversations, the small joys, and the profound impact of honoring life, no matter how brief. This is a conversation about medicine at its most intimate and compassionate.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:53 - The family tragedy that introduced Eliassen to George Mark Children’s House
15:08 - Eliassen’s personal experience with pediatric palliative care and how her understanding has evolved
19:26 - How palliative care differs from physician aid in dying
23:21 - George Mark Children’s House’s approach to pediatric palliative care
28:09 - The importance of “savouring the moment”
37:04 - Limiting factors that currently prevent pediatric palliative care from expanding
41:44 - The role that spirituality and religion play at George Mark Children’s House
48:17 - Eliassen’s advice to her past self on how to prepare for the life-changing experience of child loss
Shekinah Eliassen can be found on Instagram at @shekinahceliassen.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Medicine is often framed as a meritocracy, where intelligence, hard work, and dedication dictate success. Yet, institutions of medicine are shaped by histories of exclusion, bias, and systemic inequities. And for clinicians coming from marginalized backgrounds, the journey is not just about learning the science. It's also about learning an entirely different set of rules — rules that are unspoken and unwritten, but deeply felt.
For Damon Tweedy, MD, this struggle was deeply personal. Raised in a working class, all-black neighborhood, medicine once felt worlds away. Earning a spot at Duke Medical School was a milestone, but it came with new challenges. The paradox of being both visible and invisible; of constantly proving — sometimes subtly, sometimes forcefully — that he belonged. Dr. Tweedy talks about the paradox of striving to be “twice as good,” while still being mistaken for the janitor, turning down an invitation to play golf with faculty because he simply did not know the game, and realizing that for some of his classmates, medicine was not a leap into the unknown, but simply an inheritance.
Beyond race, this episode is also about identity, resilience, and what happens when personal history collides with professional expectation. It's about how trust in medicine is built or broken not just for doctors, but for patients. Dr. Tweedy shares how his own experiences have shaped the way he interacts with patients, why he approaches conversations with more humility, and why sometimes the most important thing a doctor can do is simply acknowledge the weight that a patient carries into the exam room. Ultimately, this episode is about the search for authenticity in a system that often demands conformity.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:24 - Dr. Tweedy’s path to medicine and his experience as a black first-generation college student
14:08 - How Dr. Tweedy navigates experiences of being discriminated against as a black physician
24:58 - Dr. Tweedy’s approach to navigating discriminatory experiences between patients and trainees
29:56 - Dr. Tweedy’s path to becoming a public voice regarding race and medicine
32:07 - The current approach to teaching race and medicine in medical school, and Dr. Tweedy’s thoughts on how it can be improved.
43:42 - Effectively serving patients of different racial backgrounds without falling into profiling or prejudice
48:49 - Dr. Tweedy’s advice for new medical students
Dr. Damon Tweedy is the author of Black Man in a White Coat (2016) and Facing the Unseen(2024).
Dr. Tweedy can be found on Twitter/X at @damontweedymd.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
Physicians are trained to diagnose and treat disease, but they're not always taught how to lead. Yet in an era of increasing administrative burdens, evolving healthcare policies, and growing physician burnout, leadership skills have never been more essential. How can physicians reclaim their voices in healthcare decision making? What makes an effective physician leader in today's complex landscape?
Here to answer these questions is Peter Angood, MD, President and CEO of the American Association for Physician Leadership, an organization dedicated to empowering physicians with the tools and strategies to lead successfully. With years of experience as a trauma surgeon and a leader of patient safety at organizations ranging from The Joint Commission to the World Health Organization, Dr. Angood has thought deeply about expanding the role of physicians beyond the bedside.
Over the course of our conversation. Dr. Angood first takes us into the mind of a trauma surgeon dealing with split-second life-or-death decisions, then discusses the evolving role of physician leadership, trends that concern and excite him about modern healthcare, and concrete skills all clinicians can develop to lead meaningful changes.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:23 - How Dr. Angood became drawn to a career in medicine
5:58 - The day-to-day experience of a trauma surgeon
18:39 - How Dr. Angood expanded his role beyond the operating room
21:44 - The role of the Joint Commission
23:02 - Finding the balance between patient safety, teamwork, and physician autonomy
31:37 - Dr. Angood’s leadership philosophy
41:40 - Why all physicians should be seen as leaders
43:45 - Dr. Angood’s advice for how to be successful in a leadership role
53:57 - Dr. Angood’s advice for new clinicians
Dr. Angood is the author of Inspiring Growth and Leadership in Medical Careers: Transform Healthcare as a Physician Leader (2024) and All Physicians are Leaders: Reflections on Inspiring Change Together for Better Healthcare (2020).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2025
The American diet is the leading cause of death among Americans. Accumulating medical evidence now shows that poor diet not only contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, but also to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, liver disease, and much more. Despite its direct and indirect roles in causing half or more of all deaths, food is not something doctors learn about in their training, nor is it something that's emphasized enough to patients by the medical establishment.
Our guest on this episode is Michael Greger, MD, a specialist in lifestyle medicine and one of the most trusted voices in evidence based nutrition and public health. He is the internationally best selling author of How Not to Die (2015), How Not to Diet (2019), and How Not to Age (2023).
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Greger shares his approach to healthy living, focusing on the surprising power of whole-food, largely plant-based diets in transforming our bodies at a molecular level. He discusses strategies for helping patients and ourselves achieve behavioral change and explores how our brains and palates are rewired by processed foods, how we can reverse this, the ethics of patient counseling around lifestyle interventions, why there is such a mismatch between nutrition beliefs and behaviors among physicians, and his most high-yield recommendations for starting your journey to eating well.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:45 - How Dr. Greger’s grandmother’s miraculous recovery due to diet change inspired him to build a career in nutrition science
6:58 - The disconnect that exists between the American medical system and the science of nutrition
13:57 - Why nutrition education is lacking in American medical training
21:31 - Issues with compliance among patients trying to adopt a lifestyle of healthy eating
28:00 - Supporting patients who are not interested in preventative healthcare measures
35:15 - Navigating the confusing and often conflicting landscape of nutritional studies
43:20 - Whether there is a universal dietary recommendation
46:49 - Simple ways to improve your diet, starting today
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
In recent years, it has become evident that loneliness is one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time — so much so that the US Surgeon General has labeled it an epidemic with far reaching consequences. The pain of isolation doesn't merely gnaw at our sense of belonging: it undermines our physical wellbeing, erodes our mental health, and places an invisible strain on communities. In this climate of ever widening personal and cultural divides, the collective call for deeper human bonds feels both urgent and universal.
Our guest on this episode is Julia Hotz, a journalist and passionate advocate for social prescribing, the practice of directing people to community activities and social support networks as part of their health care. She is the author of the book The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service and Belonging (2024), in which she argues that whether it's group classes, volunteer opportunities, or simply forging new friendships, true well-being is as much about our social fabric as it is about physical health.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the psychology of isolation and loneliness, the tangible health effects of loneliness, the historical societal forces that drive humans increasingly apart, the role of social media in connecting and separating us, and how patients and physicians alike can take proactive and creative steps in making human connection an integral part of living well.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:50 - What social prescribing is and how it became Hotz’ focus as a journalist
5:32 - How loneliness became a crisis in the era of social media
18:46 - The ways in which social prescribing can change the conversation between doctors and patients
28:24 - The impact that our relationships and environments have on our physiological wellbeing
38:29 - How doctors and health care systems can leverage the power of social prescribing
45:00 - How social prescribing is beginning to find its place in the American healthcare system
56:03 - How social prescribing can bring a stronger sense of meaning into the lives of both patients and doctors
To learn more about how you can get involved in the social prescribing movement, Julia recommends visiting Social Prescribing USA and socialprescribing.co.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
We have featured many techno-optimists on this show — healthcare leaders who believe that precision medicine and emerging technologies promise to revolutionize and democratize medicine in the best of ways. But look under the glossy veneer of this optimism and we see a far more complex story, one that touches on questions of power, inequity and the troubling ways in which genetics can be wielded, intentionally or not, to shape society in potentially dangerous ways.
Our guest on this episode is James Tabery, PhD, a bioethicist, philosopher, and author of the book Tyranny of the Gene” Personalized Medicine and its Threat to Public Health (2024). Tabery gives us a tour of the rise of personalized and precision medicine, a field that promises to tailor treatments to our unique genetic profiles. Importantly, though, he highlights how the blind pursuit of these advances can distract us from larger public health challenges and exacerbate inequality. In our conversation, we explore the historical forces that have shaped modern genetics, ethical dilemmas involving the tension between patient autonomy and societal justice, and necessary guardrails around technological advances.
We hope this conversation will challenge your assumptions, whether you are a clinician, a patient, or simply someone fascinated by the ways science shapes our world.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:15 - How Tabery became drawn to his work in philosophy and bioethics
5:30 - Tabery’s view on the potential perils of the constant march of scientific progress
9:34 - The ways in which his father’s early experience with precision medicine shaped Tabery’s thinking on the topic
19:33 - Examining the promises and realities of precision medicine
30:12 - Navigating the inequities caused by the exorbitant cost of precision medicine
35:29 - The challenges doctors face when approaching “financial toxicity”
40:00 - Tabery’s worries about medical genetics and AI
49:51 - How innovation be controlled in order to better align with ethical concerns
James Tabery can be found on Twitter/X at @jamestabery.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Life can be hard when we are sick. But even when we aren't, life can still wear us down in quiet, surprising ways. Indeed, major traumas are relatively rare, and it's the moments when too many things go wrong at once, or we are exposed to prolonged periods of stress, that we fall into a spiral of exhaustion, fatigue, burnout, and hopelessness.
Vincent Deary, PhD is an author and health psychologist who explores the mundane struggles of everyday life. His writings blend clinical insight, literary finesse and wisdom drawn from philosophy and art to illuminate how the wear and tear of life affect all of us, and how we can navigate through it all. He is the author of How We Are (2024), which explores the power of human routines and the challenges of personal change, and How We Break (2024), which delves into how individuals cope when pushed to their limits.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss what the clinical work of health psychology looks like, what happens to our minds when we deal with stressors in life, the importance of storytelling for psychological growth, balancing self-improvement with self-acceptance, the role of constitutional luck in our search for happiness, the importance of restorative rest, how clinicians can cope with grief and guilt from their work, and more. By bringing an empathetic lens to the complexities of modern existence, Vincent helps us create a path through difficult times.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:43 - What health psychology is and how Deary became drawn to this field
18:58 - Deary’s motivations for exploring the emotional toll of experiencing life in his writings
22:42 - The benefit of approaching each patient as a “case”
31:46 - Finding a balance between self-improvement and self-acceptance
38:10 - Using the bio-psycho-social model to explain our capacities for weathering stress
43:14 - Fostering a healthier perspective on work-life balance
50:55 - The importance of community and institutional support in helping people process compassion fatigue
58:05 - Strategies for connecting more deeply with patients within a clinical setting
Vincent Deary can be found on Twitter/X at @vincentdeary.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Variations of cryonics — the long term storage of human beings, usually at low temperatures — have long been featured in science fiction. In stories involving space travel, it’s often used as a solution for long-duration journeys. But increasingly, this is not just the stuff of fiction anymore.
The prospect of preserving ourselves, potentially indefinitely, forces us to ask some of the most profound questions we have ever faced: are we meant to transcend the boundaries of our mortal lives? What does it mean to be alive? If life can be extended, what happens to its meaning, urgency, and beauty? These questions, by turns technological, philosophical, ethical and even spiritual, are what we explore in this episode.
Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnson, PhD is a neuroscientist who studies the nature of conscious experiences to better understand how we can preserve cognitive function. His book The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death (2024), explores the viability of delaying death and its societal implications. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the science of human preservation, definitions of life and death, broader questions about how we derive meaning from life, whether or not the finitude of human experience is essential to our conceptions of a well-lived life, our social contract with future generations, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:44 - How Dr. Zeleznikow-Johnson became interested in the future of longevity
6:00 - Dr. Zeleznikow-Johnson’s definitions of “life” and “death”
14:29 - Why Dr. Zeleznikow-Johnson thinks that believing death is inevitable is a form of “learned helplessness”
17:52 - The level of faith one would need to have in the future of technology to consent to cryosleep
24:16: - Whether the finitude of human existence is essential to its meaning
29:05 - Whether every death is an inherent tragedy
30:25 - How the limitations of the human brain could impede longevity
33:16 - The ethical dilemma that would arise due to the financial costs of this technology
36:30 - Why Dr. Zeleznikow-Johnson is confident that cryonics will be successful
46:42 - The core thesis of Dr. Zeleznikow-Johnson’s book The Future Loves You
50:15 - Whether immortality is a desirable objective
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
One of the most mysterious and frightening entities in medicine are prion diseases — rare neurodegenerative disorders that are usually infectious in nature but involve not bacteria or viruses, but proteins. Prions are misfolded proteins that can induce normal proteins to become misfolded as well, resulting in a chain reaction that leads to irreversible brain damage and death. What makes prions alarming is that they are incurable, can incubate for decades in a person's brain without symptoms, and are usually associated with 100% mortality within months to a few years.
Sonia Vallabh, PhD was a recently-married lawyer in her early career when she witnessed her mother's baffling sudden health decline and death. Her mother was ferried from hospital to hospital, yet dozens of doctors could not figure out why she was seemingly succumbing to rapidly progressive dementia at the age of 52. It wasn't until after her death that Vallabh discovered the cause was a genetic prion disease. Subsequent testing revealed that Sonia Vallabh herself had inherited the same genetic abnormality. Determined to find a solution, Vallabh and her husband Eric, a transportation engineer, decided to retrain as biomedical scientists in a race to cure her before it grew too late. The couple now leads a prion research lab at the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard. They are also the co-founders of the nonprofit Prion Alliance.
Over the course of our conversation, Vallabh opens up about what it was like to accompany her mother in her last months of life, the psychological toll of dealing with a fatal medical mystery, how she lives each day with an awareness of how ephemeral life is, what prion diseases are and what makes them so difficult to treat, what makes her optimistic about the future of her work, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:23 - Vallabh’s early memories of her mother and the devastating experience that overcame her at 52 years old
16:37 - The process of grieving the loss a parent
22:32 - What prion diseases are
25:35 - How Vallabh made the decision to undergo the genetic testing that confirmed she inherited a mutation thah causes prion disease
36:27 - Vallabh’s major career change to become biomedical researchers
45:50 - Where the quest for an effective therapy for prion disease currently stands
52:08 - Vallabh’s message to listeners on how to approach life
View Sonia Vallabh’s TED Talk on her quest to cure prion disease.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
The second half of the 20th century saw monumental shifts in civil rights in the United States, with the end of legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement affecting all spheres of life, from education to health care to housing to marriage and more.
Judge David S. Tatel is a civil rights lawyer who has contributed to key advancements in voting rights, educational equality, and disability rights. Over the course of his five-decade career, he has served as Director of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as Director of the Office for Civil Rights during the Carter administration, and as a federal judge on the D.C. Circuit, considered the second highest court in America.
Judge Tatel also happens to be blind, due to a rare genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa. In 2024, he published a book titled Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice.
Over the course of our conversation, Judge Tatel opens up about how he has wrestled with vision impairment in both his legal career and his personal life. He discusses what it was like to be diagnosed with an incurable, progressive, blinding disease as a teenager, how he struggled to make sense of his identity as a blind individual even as his career was taking off, his philosophy as a lawyer, how his beautiful relationship with his wife and children have helped him navigate the world, and how he met his guide dog, Vixen. Judge Tatel's legacy is one of judicial integrity, a lifelong commitment to equality, and a testament to the boundless potential of individuals living with disabilities.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:45 - Judge Tatel’s experience of being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa as a teenager
15:33 - The inspiration that led Judge Tatel to focus his legal career on civil rights
22:47 - Judge Tatel’s experience of progressively losing his vision while ascending in his legal career
28:05 - Visual elements of life that Judge Tatel misses and how he now “experiences” vision
33:12 - Why Judge Tatel regrets concealing the truth about his blindness early in his career
37:01 - How Judge Tatel’s blindness has influenced his civil rights work
44:45 - Judge Tatel’s concerns about the future of democracy in the United States
46:27 - The ways in which getting a guide dog late in life changed Judge Tatel’s sense of freedom and his perspective on blindness
49:06 - Judge Tatel’s advice to his former self
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Addiction is often misunderstood not just by the public, but also by clinicians. It challenges us as individuals, families, and communities. To understand addiction is to understand not only human behavior and neuroscience, but also social networks, public policies, and bioethics. Our guest on this episode, Keith Humphreys, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in addiction and has served on the White House Commission on Drug Free Communities during the Bush administration, and as Senior Policy Advisor to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Obama administration. His research on recovery support systems like Alcoholics Anonymous and on the opioid crisis has shaped how we understand addiction recovery.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Humphreys shares how he became interested in addiction medicine, what happens to our brains when we become addicted, the difficulty of balancing interventions with a respect for patient autonomy, why social networks can be powerful tools in addiction recovery, possible solutions to the opioid crisis, and how clinicians can better establish trust with patients facing addiction.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:36 - How Dr. Humphreys became interested in studying the psychology of addiction
4:34 - The neuroscience of addiction
9:15 - Whether addictive behavior is a matter of personal choice
16:27 - How clinicians can address patients who do not yet recognize their addiction as a problem
21:36 - What GLP-1 inhibitors can tell us about the mechanisms of addiction
26:07 - The benefits of peer support groups (like Alcoholics Anonymous) for addiction recovery
32:55 - Dr. Humphreys' work on drug policy
37:32 - The rise of the opioid crisis
43:05 - Policy models to address substance abuse
48:24 - How medical professionals who are struggling with addiction can seek help
51:25 - Dr. Humphreys' advice for clinicians on how to connect with patients who are struggling with addiction
Dr. Keith Humphreys can be found on Twitter/X at @KeithNHumphreys.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
One of the most fascinating concepts in human health is the idea of social contagion, meaning that emotions, behaviors, and health outcomes can spread through social networks, much like infectious diseases. Examples in the medical literature abound: if a person becomes obese, their friends have a significantly higher chance of becoming obese — even their friends of friends have increased odds of becoming obese. Similarly, someone who quit smoking is likely to create a ripple effect through their social networks, influencing many more people to quit smoking. Social contagion affects life and death itself — after the death of a spouse, the surviving partner's mortality risk increases, and conversely, strong social networks are protective against early death.
Much of the groundwork of our understanding of the powerful health effects of social networks laid by Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, a physician-turned-social scientist who is the author of multiple best selling books, including Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus On the Way We Live (2020) in Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (2019).
In this episode, Dr. Christakis shares his remarkable path to medicine and sociology, beginning from witnessing his mother's struggle through serious illness, to his foray into palliative medicine, and finally to his life's work on the social, economic and evolutionary determinants of human welfare. We discuss the mechanisms by which social contagion functions, why modern medicine does a disservice to patients by atomizing their medical problems, how the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the effects of social networks on public health, the philosophical implications of living an interconnected life, and why human beings are wired to build good societies through our capacity for love, friendship and cooperation.
In this episode, you’ll hear about
3:17 - Dr. Christakis’s path to medicine through witnessing his mother’s serious illness
15:05 - How Dr. Christakis became passionate about studying the effects of social networks
24:43 - How social networks affect an individual’s health
31:28 - The negative effects that COVID-19 restrictions had on patients and their loved ones
38:58 - The central thesis of Dr. Christakis’s 2019 book Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
50:38 - Dr. Christakis’s thoughts on how to live a meaningful life
Dr. Nicholas Christakis can be found on Twitter/X at @NAChristakis.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Digital technologies have saturated our lives and there is no going back. Given this, it's worth pondering whether and how they are fundamentally reshaping our mind and our relationships.
A seminal work that explores these issues is the 2010 book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by journalist Nicholas Carr. In it, he argues that the internet is “shallowing” our brains, meaning that as we offload cognitive tasks to digital tools, our ability to read linearly, to absorb and immerse ourselves in complex information, is reduced. But more than that, the internet curtails our emotional depth and compassion, diminishing our humanity and rendering us more computer-like, as we process information in short bursts, skim for quick answers, and operate with frenetic attention spans. In Carr’s 2014 book The Glass Cage, he discusses how the increasing automation of tasks leads to a decrease in human agency, creativity, and problem solving capability.
In this episode, Carr joins us to discuss the neuroplasticity of the brain, the mechanisms by which digital technologies reduce our ability to think deeply, how the failures of electronic medical records illustrate the limitations of technology, what social media does to our relationships, the value of focused, reflective thought in a fast paced world, what we can all do to remain independent of technology, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:42 - Carr’s path to researching and writing about the human consequences of technology
5:38 - The central thesis of Carr’s 2010 book The Shallows
15:27 - Whether the cognitive impacts of digital technologies are reversible or permanent
21:18 - Whether society is better or worse off due to social media and the internet
25:38 - How modern technology has changed the medical profession
38:22 - Carr’s thesis for his upcoming bookSuperbloom
45:21 - How society can address the loss of focus and empathy that has occurred as a result of social media
Nicholas Carr can be found on Twitter/X at @roughtype.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Medicine is filled with stories that illustrate the most beautiful, devastating, hopeful, and consequential moments of life. But how do we capture these moments and transform them into everlasting lessons that guide us on our search for meaning? That's where the art of storytelling comes in.
Our guest on this episode is Anna Reisman, MD, director of the Program for Humanities in Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Reisman is not only a physician-writer whose essays have appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and other major outlets. She has also dedicated her career to helping clinicians better reflect and write about their experiences.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss how Dr. Reisman went from being an English major in college to working as a physician, her own experiences with burnout and what helped her overcome it, her approach to creative nonfiction writing, concrete ways that writing sharpens the mind of the physician, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:00 - Dr. Reisman’s path from English major to physician
3:45 - The scope of Dr. Reisman’s current work
8:22 - How Dr. Reisman became involved in medical humanities and how she created a writer workshop at Yale Medicine
14:19 - How writing and the medical profession goes hand in hand
22:49 - The VA Writes reflective writing group
27:56 - Teaching observational skills to medical students in today’s technology-forward landscape
30:25 - How to approach the writing process if you are new to writing
45:57 - What Dr. Reisman wishes she would have known at the beginning of her career
Dr. Anna Reisman can be found on Twitter/X at @annareisman.
A list of Dr. Reisman’s essays can be found on MuckRack.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase “Healthcare Heroes” echoed through hospital walls and city streets. For many people, this felt like an overdue acknowledgment of the difficult and important work that healthcare professionals carried out during the most devastating healthcare crisis the world had seen in a century. But this phrase can also be problematic, romanticizing the sacrifices of individual clinicians without addressing the systemic failures that put them at risk, overlooking the mental health struggles they experienced, and undermining healthcare environments that encourage reflection about respect and duty.
Our guest on this episode is Dhaval Desai, MD, a hospitalist at Emory Healthcare in Georgia and the author of the book Burning Out on the Covid Front Lines: A Doctor's Memoir of Fatherhood, Race, and Perseverance in the Pandemic (2023), in which he details his personal narrative as a healthcare leader and frontline physician fighting to hold his hospital together.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Desai shares why he decided to train in both internal medicine and pediatrics, how his experiences caring for his ailing father revealed the flaws of our healthcare systems, the nerve-wracking first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, his own struggles as a leader, healer, father, and husband during a time of deep uncertainty, how we can all better connect with patients through even a few moments of shared humanity amid our busy days, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:36 - Dr. Desai’s path to medicine
5:05 - How a Med-Peds residency differs from other medical residency tracks
8:06 - How Dr. Desai’s personal experiences have shaped his approach to patient advocacy
11:53 - Dr. Desai’s personal and professional life leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic
18:46 - Dr. Desai’s opinion on why it is important for leaders to be able to express emotion
24:53 - How Dr. Desai used his leadership role to help his staff navigate the emotional turmoil of the pandemic experience
28:32 - Moments when Dr. Desai suffered heavily from burnout
34:47 - Stories of the isolating effects of COVID-19 in the ER
39:53 - Our society’s support of healthcare workers
46:19 - Advice for young clinicians on ensuring humanity stays central to their work
Dr. Dhaval Desai can be found on Instagram at @doctordesaimd and on X/Twitter @DrDesaiMDx.
In this episode, we discussed the New York Times article “I Couldn’t Do Anything: The Virus and an E.R. Doctor’s Suicide”
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Precision medicine — the approach to health care that involves tailoring medical interventions to an individual's genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle — promises to deliver the right treatment to the right person at the right time. From preventing diseases decades before they appear, to specially designed cocktails of cancer drugs, to genetic modification of rare diseases, many of these applications sound straight out of science fiction.
At the forefront of precision medicine and medical genomics is Euan Ashley, MBChB, DPhill, Chair of Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. A cardiologist and intensive care physician by training, Dr. Ashley has pioneered the use of genetic sequencing to identify risk factors for heart disease and new treatments for rare diseases. He is also the author of The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them (2021).
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss his path from growing up in a small Scottish town to now working at the cutting edge of medicine, the excitement and fulfillment he experiences as a clinician in the cardiac intensive care unit, remarkable patient stories of healing and resilience, the future of precision medicine, why he is optimistic about the development of artificial intelligence, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:24 - Dr. Ashley’s path to medicine and to cardiology
7:19 - What life is like working in the CCU
21:34 - How the Undiagnosed Diseases Network was founded and what it does
33:22 - An overview of precision medicine
38:09 - The impact that genetic testing and genomic medicine is having on modern medicine and where it could go from here
45:00 - Dr. Ashley’s thoughts on how AI will change the field of medicine
51:40 - Making access to medical advancements in AI and genomics more equitable
1:04:39 - Dr. Ashley’s advice for healthcare professionals in training
Dr. Euan Ashley can be found on Twitter/X at @euanashley.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Joseph Sakran, MD, MPH was a teenager in a small town in Virginia when, in 1994, his life took a dramatic turn. At the age of 17, he was out with his friends after a high school football game when a nearby gunfight broke out and he was struck by a stray bullet in the throat. The bullet, tearing through his windpipe and a carotid artery, brought him to the razor edge of death before he was saved by trauma surgeons.
Thirty years later, Dr. Sakran is now a trauma surgeon who serves as Director of Emergency General Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and a vocal advocate of reducing firearm injury through public health initiatives at the state and national levels. Following the 2018 comment by the National Rifle Association that doctors should “stay in their lane” with regard to gun violence prevention, Dr. Sakran started the #ThisIsOurLane movement, mobilizing thousands of health care professionals to advocate for gun violence as a public health crisis.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Sakran shares his harrowing experience of being shot and what it was like to be confronted with imminent death, how his perspectives on and priorities in life changed after the incident, what goes on in his mind when he operates on victims of gun violence, how he connects with his patients over shared experiences of trauma, how all clinicians can be more empathetic with their patients, and why advocacy is integral to the work of a physician.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:46 - How a personal tragedy set Dr. Sakran on the path to becoming a trauma surgeon
9:51 - How Dr. Sakran’s perspective on life was altered by his personal experience with gun violence
13:11 - How Dr. Sakran’s experiences informs his approach to speaking with patients and their loved ones during traumatic situations
19:09 - The importance of showing empathy to build rapport with patients and families
23:51 - What it is like to tend to victims of violence
29:26 - Addressing the public health crisis of gun violence in America
37:41 - How clinicians can become more involved in advocacy
45:32 - Dr. Sakran’s advice to future clinicians
Dr. Joseph Sakran can be found on Twitter/X at @josephsakran.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
To the best of our knowledge, humans appear to be unique among animals in our awareness of mortality — at least in our capacity for existential reflection about death in an abstract, cultural, and symbolic sense. With this capacity comes profound psychological experiences, from our search for meaning, to our struggle with grief, to a yearning for the spiritual.
Our guest on this episode is Dr. Rachel Clarke, a palliative care physician based in the United Kingdom who entered medicine after an initial career in journalism. As she would discover, her love for language and storytelling has turned out to be one of the most important ways she helps patients heal in some of the most devastating moments of their lives. As a writer. Dr. Clarke is the author of multiple best selling books, including Dear Life: A Doctor's Story of Love and Loss (2020), Your Life in My Hands: A Junior Doctor's Story (2017), and Breathtaking (2021), which was adapted into a TV series of the same name. Her writing, imbued with both grace and grit, invites readers to confront difficult truths about mortality, suffering, and the inequities of the healthcare system, while also offering a vision of medicine that is as deeply human as it is healing. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss her journey to medicine by way of journalism, her reflections on the moral imperatives that drive her work, the power of storytelling in comforting patients, why suffering is inextricably connected to love, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:12 - Why Dr. Clarke switched careers from journalism to palliative care
9:46 - The challenge modern doctors and patients face when it comes to thinking about mortality
15:09 - Supporting a patient’s psychological suffering through conversation
20:31 - Grappling with what Dr. Clarke calls the “essential paradox of being a human being” — our awareness of mortality
33:41 - The experience of watching a person die and the reverence we hold for the bodies of the dead
43:05 - The doctor’s dual responsibilities of navigating both science and human emotions
Dr. Rachel Clarke is the author of four books, including most recently, The Story of a Heart (2024).
Dr. Clarke can be found on Twitter/X at @doctor_oxford.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Modern medicine has long considered many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease to be immutably linked to the fate of certain unlucky individuals through yet-poorly understood genetic mechanisms. But increasingly, we are seeing evidence that some of our lifestyle choices, including our diet, physical activity, and relationships, may play a significant role in the development of, or protection against, these diseases. Our guest on this episode, David Perlmutter, MD, is a neurologist and writer whose immensely popular books, including Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar — Your Brain’s Silent Killers (2013), discuss why diets low in refined carbohydrates and high in fats, in addition to foods that nurture a healthy gut microbiome, may prevent cognitive decline.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss Dr. Perlmutter's path from conventional neurology to moving towards a more functional and holistic approach to treating brain disorders, the importance of metabolic health in maintaining our cognitive capacities, how Dr. Perlmutter responds to critics of his non-conventional medical advice, why nutrition science is riddled with messy and conflicting findings and how we can better navigate through it all, what clinicians can do to better help their patients live well, and more.
Note: Some of Dr. Perlmutter’s ideas and recommendations have been the subject of debate and controversy within the medical community. While we believe in fostering open dialog and exploring diverse perspectives, the views expressed in this episode are those of Dr. Perlmutter and do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of this podcast. We encourage listeners to critically evaluate the information presented and work with qualified healthcare professionals when making any changes to their health and wellness routines.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:11 - Dr. Perlmutter’s transition from conventional neurology to what he calls “preventative” neurology
8:43 - Dr. Perlmutter’s views on what constitutes a “disease” and the role of the doctor.
19:08 - Emerging science on the importance of metabolic health on brain health
25:17 - How scientific studies on preventative health can be (and have been) designed
34:56 - Why Dr. Perlmutter prioritizes health markers (such as HbA1c) over specific dietary recommendations when working with patients
42:21 - Dr. Perlmutter’s views on GLP-1 antagonists such as Ozempic and Mounjaro
50:36 - How Dr. Perlmutter has dealt with critics of his work
Dr. David Perlmutter is the author of eight books.
Dr. Perlmutter can be found on Twitter/X at @davidperlmutter.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
What makes a life worth living? This question has animated great thinkers and faith traditions for millennia. Interestingly enough, in our time of rapid globalization, technological advancement, and material abundance, we often seem more unmoored from our conception of the self and its relation to the world than ever before.
Our guest on this episode, Miroslav Volf, has spent his life wrestling with this question of questions and helping others to do the same. Volf is a professor of theology at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and his work explores the intersections of faith, identity, and public life. He is the author of more than 10 books, including the bestselling Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (2023), based on one of the most popular courses at Yale University, which he co-teaches. The book, an inquiry into the nature of human flourishing, invites readers to consider wisdom drawn from various religious, philosophical, and literary traditions. He challenges the often superficial metrics of happiness promoted by modern society, urging readers to reflect deeply on the kind of life they want to lead — one that is not just pleasurable or successful by conventional standards, but that is positively shaped by adversity, contemplation, and interconnectedness.
In our conversation, we discuss how growing up as the son of a Pentecostal minister in Former Yugoslavia influenced Volf's relationship with Christian theology, why faith is a “comfortably difficult” thing, why “finding your authentic self” is a problematic concept in modern culture, how social media, divisive political currents, and the relentless drive for productivity distract us from what matters most, and the nobility in pursuing a richer, more intentioned, and just life.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:12 - What Volf’s work as a systematic theologian entails, and key childhood experiences that shaped his relationship with faith
12:18 - The philosophical basis for the Yale class that inspired the book Life Worth Living
20:23 - Why Volf uses Smokey Bear as a representation of the pursuit of a meaningful life
26:53 - Shifting the focus of life from personal desires toward the quest to live by “truth”
40:38 - The inherent challenge in shifting focus away from “I, Me, and Mine”
45:49 - How the search for a meaningful life relates to the experiences of a medical professional
51:42 - Advice for how to add philosophical practices to a busy modern life
Miroslav Volf is the author of 17 books, including Life Worth Living (2023)
Past episodes discussed in this episode:
Episode 95: Shaping a Soul, Building a Self | William Deresiewicz
Episode 21: Pain, Pleasure, and Finding Balance | Anna Lembke, MD
Visit www.TheDoctorsArt.com for transcripts of all episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Most people shudder at the idea of an infectious disease outbreak — patients stricken with a mysterious illness, hospitals overflowing, and cities going into lockdown. But for Syra Madad, DHSc, MSc , MCP, rushing into such a scenario, donned in a hazmat suit, to control the chaos has been a dream since childhood. Today, she is an epidemiologist, biosecurity advisor, and a pathogen preparedness expert who serves as Senior Director of the System-Wide Special Pathogens Program at New York City Health and Hospitals, which operates the municipal health care system of New York City.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Madad shares what excites her about the work of infectious disease control, why she believes we have emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic worse prepared for the next pandemic, how scientists and doctors can better communicate with the public in the absence of clear data, the importance of utilizing trusted messengers in the community to fully deploy the power of public health, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:09 - How a movie led Dr. Madad to become an infectious disease preparedness expert
6:54 - Biosafety levels (BSL)
9:30 - Moments in Dr. Madad’s career when disease containment went well and moments when it did not.
12:27 - How Dr. Madad mentally and emotionally manages the heavy weight of often-lethal infectious diseases
18:05 - Dr. Madad’s opinion on how COVID-19 policies were handled
24:02 - Dr. Madad’s personal thoughts on the potential origins of COVID-19
26:55 - What concerns Dr. Madad most about future pandemics and how we can make positive steps toward recovering trust in science
35:40 - Dr. Madad’s advice for those considering a career in public health or infectious diseases
Dr. Syra Madad appears in the Netflix special Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak
Dr. Syra Madad can be found on Twitter/X at @syramadad
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
For many physicians, having serious illness conversations with patients — talking about a dire prognosis or the futility of curative treatments — is one of the most daunting aspects of patient care. But to palliative care physician Shunichi Nakagawa, MD, these conversations are fundamentally about communicating the honest truth in an elegant, considerate, and humane way.
Dr. Nakagawa, the director of the Inpatient Palliative Care Service at Columbia University Medical Center, joins us in this episode to discuss both his unique personal journey, as well as his insightful approach to figuring out what reallymatters to patients during critical moments in their lives. He shares what it was like completing his surgical training in Japan, than coming to the United States with the hope of becoming a liver transplant surgeon, before having those hopes dashed when he found out he was ineligible to work as a surgeon in the US due to his hepatitis carrier status, and finally discovering his true calling in geriatrics and palliative care.
We also discuss cultural challenges in thinking about the end of life, why it is so difficult for physicians to communicate with their patients about serious illness, how clinicians ought to approach shared decision making, and why, when done well, this can be one of the most meaningful and rewarding parts of doctoring.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:34 - How Dr. Nakagawa entered a career in medicine in Japan
5:33 - Dr. Nakagawa’s unique journey through medical training, from surgery to palliative care
16:25 - The three-stage process that Dr. Nakagawa follows when communicating challenging medical information to patients
28:10 - Delivering medical advice in a succinct way when speaking to patients and their family members
36:14 - Lessons on what works and what doesn’t work in sensitive patient communication
Dr. Shunichi Nakagawa can be found on Twitter/X at @snakagawa_md.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
When Impossible Foods released its first product, the Impossible Burger, in 2016, it was met with equal parts curiosity, skepticism, and excitement. This plant-based “meat that bleeds” was seen as a novelty item. Today, Impossible Foods’ expanded line of offerings, from sausages to chicken nuggets to Italian meatballs, can be found in most American grocery stores at a price that rivals traditional meats.
The founder of Impossible Foods is Pat Brown, MD, PhD, a physician and molecular biologist who, after seeing the detrimental impact of animal farming on deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, made it his ambitious mission to create a sustainable food system by reducing our reliance on animal agriculture. He set out to develop plant-based alternatives to meat that not only matched, but surpassed the taste and nutritional value of traditional meats, harnessing biochemistry to recreate the sensory experience and culinary qualities of meat at a molecular level.
In this episode, Dr. Brown joins us to share his early career path from clinical pediatrics to biochemistry research, along the way inventing the DNA microarray, now an essential laboratory tool used to measure the expression levels of thousands of genes. He then discusses the origins of Impossible Foods, the scientific breakthroughs that have propelled its success, and how he hopes to inspire a cultural shift towards more sustainable eating habits and ensure a healthier planet for future generations.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:41 - How Dr. Brown was initially drawn to a career in medicine
7:54 - Why Dr. Brown chose to transition from clinical work to biomedical research
14:05 - How Dr. Brown’s drive to tackle the biggest problems of humanity led to the creation of Impossible Foods
24:19 - The scientific approach that Impossible Foods takes in creating its products
30:17 - Whether plant-based meats are too highly processed
38:40 - Dr. Brown’s vision for the future of food
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Many people regard dementia as a fate worse than death, in large part because it strikes at the essence of our humanity — our memories, identity, and relationships with others. Unlike diseases that primarily afflict the body, dementia erodes the mind, leading to a gradual fragmentation and loss of self and autonomy.
The burden of this disease on caregivers also cannot be understated. Not only does dementia require comprehensive, long term care that addresses the afflicted individual’s cognitive, behavioral, and physical issues; witnessing a loved one's slow and irreversible decline often exerts an immense emotional toll on the caregiver. Additionally, the pervasive stigma and isolation associated with dementia can leave caregivers feeling unsupported and alone.
Our guest on this episode is Dasha Kiper, a clinical psychologist who works with caregivers to people with dementia. She's the author of Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia, The Caregiver, and the Human Brain (2023). The book explores the complex relationship between caregivers and dementia patients, which are frequently rife with heartbreak, guilt, frustration, helplessness and shame. Over the course of our conversation, Dasha shares her transformative personal experiences working as a caregiver, why caregivers deserve more empathy and understanding, ethical dilemmas over medical interventions and patient autonomy, navigating the distorted reality in the mind of a dementia patient, coping strategies for caregivers and healthcare professionals, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:13 - How Dasha “stumbled” into working as a live-in caregiver for a dementia patient while still in school
4:44 - How serving as a caregiver for a dementia patient shaped Dasha’s views of neurological illness
10:23 - Managing the “loss of shared reality” that often occurs between the caregiver and the dementia patient
23:45 - The added emotional toll that dementia can take on family members
32:46 - What human dignity means in the context of dementia care
36:55 - Fostering self-compassion as a clinician or caregiver by connecting with community
49:16 - Dasha’s advice for finding community support if you are a family caregiver
Dasha Kiper is the author of Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia The Caregiver and the Human Brain (2023).
Past episodes and works discussed in this episode:
Episode 62: Navigating my Father’s Alzheimer’s as a Doctor | Sandeep Jauhar, MD
My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s by Sandeep Jauhar, MD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
There once was a time when indoor smoking was allowed in workplaces all across the United States, when trans fats were ubiquitous, and when fast food restaurants didn't have to post calorie information on their menus. That wasn't so long ago, and it's in large part thanks to the pioneering efforts of Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, Health Commissioner of New York City from 2002 to 2009, that these changes were made. Dr. Frieden’s city-wide initiatives during this time included steps to reduce tobacco use (by banning indoor smoking, increasing tobacco taxes, and aggressive anti-tobacco ads), to ban trans fats and mandate proper nutrition labeling in restaurants, and to rapidly expand screening for diabetes and HIV. All of these efforts have since been adopted nationwide and have gained practically universal acceptance by the public.
Prior to this, Dr. Frieden spearheaded tuberculosis control measures in New York City and India, drastically slashing rates of multidrug resistant tuberculosis. He was also director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during which time he led the CDC's response against the H1N1 influenza pandemic, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the Zika virus epidemic. Most recently, he leads Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative aiming to prevent cardiovascular disease primarily through advocacy of lifestyle interventions.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Frieden shares his personal path to a career in infectious disease and public health, lessons learned from his work on tuberculosis control, striking the balance between curbing personal liberties and protecting community health, key insights into effective public health communication particularly when dealing with incomplete information or data, the evolution of the political and partisan nature of health policy, why preventing heart disease is so critical, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:00 - How a conversation with his father drew Dr. Frieden to a career in public health
5:40 - Dr. Frieden’s early work tackling tuberculous as a “management problem”
9:05 - Balancing individual rights with the health of the public
17:55 - The formula Dr. Frieden has used to choose which particular public health issues to focus on
28:08 - Strategies for effective health communication with the public
33:08 - The mission of Dr. Frieden's organization Resolve to Save Lives
39:16 - Dr. Frieden’s thoughts on how to navigate public health communications in the light of changing scientific knowledge
45:50 - The important lessons that Dr. Frieden learned from his patients about public health during his time as a clinician
Dr. Tom Frieden is the President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives.
Dr. Frieden can be found on Twitter/X at @DrTomFrieden.
People and Work discussed in this episode:
Dr. Karel Styblo
Dr. Nancy Messenior’s February 2020 COVID address
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
It is well documented that descendants of Holocaust survivors exhibit greater levels of anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. The trauma of domestic violence can ripple through generations, with maladaptive coping mechanisms and emotional instability perpetuating subsequent cycles of trauma and dysfunction. The brutal history of slavery in the United States is seen today in the form of persistent economic disparities and ongoing social injustices, affecting mental and physical health across generations. All of this, in various forms, is intergenerational trauma. Extending beyond the individual, the emotional and psychological wounds of this type of trauma embeds itself within the family lineage through behavioral patterns, emotional responses, and even biological alterations.
Our guest on this episode is Mariel Buqué, PhD, a health psychologist who specializes in helping individuals experiencing intergenerational trauma. Her book Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma (2024) reveals the invisible threads that link the past and present and highlights the necessity for healing not just individuals, but entire family systems and communities. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Buqué shares how she draws on her experiences as an Afro-Latina immigrant from the Dominican Republic in her work, how a health psychologist connects with patients, how intergenerational traumas happen and their devastating effects on individuals, families, friends, and community members, and more.
In this episode you’ll hear about:
2:00 - What drew Dr. Buqué to the field of psychology
5:19 - What health psychology is
8:40 - What occurs in a course of treatment with a psychologist
18:30 - An overview of intergenerational trauma
28:00 - The far-reaching effects of intergenerational trauma in society and how psychology can help unload the burden
35:50 - Breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma
40:30 - The role of stigma in access to mental health care
45:10 - Dr. Buqué‘s approach to building trust with patients
48:28 - How all clinicians can better empathize and connect with their patients through trauma-informed care
Dr. Mariel Buqué is the author of Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma (2024).
Dr. Buqué can be found on Instagram at @dr.marielbuque.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
The Rwandan Genocide, occurring between April-July 1994, was a devastating episode of mass violence in which nearly 1 million people were killed over a period of 100 days. Fueled by longstanding ethnic tensions, political power struggles, and a deep seated history of discrimination, the genocide saw members of the Tutsi ethnic group slaughtered indiscriminately by extremists of the Hutu ethnic group.
Growing up amid this chaos, Christian Ntizimira, MD witnessed some of humanity's most horrific atrocities. Instead of turning away, however, he chose to enter medicine, a profession that would allow him to address the immense suffering he saw. Today, Dr. Ntizimira is a palliative care physician and the founder and executive director of the African Center for Research on End of Life Care.
In this episode, Dr. Ntizimira joins us to share his personal experiences with the Rwandan Genocide, his journey to palliative medicine after initially exploring a career in surgery, what palliative care means to him, what it looks like to honor the dignity of a patient, how he advocates better access to palliative care and chronic illness care, and his unique approach to medicine rooted in “ubuntu,” a philosophy emphasizing the universal bond that connects all humanity that is best summarized by the phrase “I am because you are.”
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:45 - How Dr. Ntizimira’s experience as a young person during the Rwandan Genocide inspired him to become a physician, and how he eventually found himself drawn to palliative care
14:25 - Dr. Ntizimira’s distinction between “treating the disease” and “treating the person”
20:22 - How Dr. Ntizimira teaches doctors to fully conceptualize patients as people instead of focusing only on their medical ailments
25:50 - The heart of palliative care that transcends cultures
30:54 - The importance of presence in palliative care
38:27 - What “reconciliation” means in Dr. Ntizimira’s approach to palliative care
47:17 - “Ubuntu,” an African philosophy emphasizing a shared connection among humans, and how it can revolutionize how we care for patients
Dr. Christian Ntizimira is the author of The Safari Concept: An African Framework for End of Life Care.
Dr. Christian Ntizimira can be found on Twitter/X at @ntizimira.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Death and grief are much more “hidden” from society today than they once were. The medicalization of dying means that death now occurs more frequently in hospitals and care facilities than at homes. The secularization of society means that traditional religious or communal rituals surrounding death and mourning have diminished. The fast pace and optimistic lens of consumer culture means less contemplation of aging, mortality, and grief.
But Mikołaj Sławkowski-Rode, PhD, a professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw and research fellow at Oxford University, argues that experiences of mourning and grief are crucial to the human condition. They allow us to foster empathy and connect with others’ suffering. They encourage us to reflect on how we value life, relationships, and the responsibilities we have towards others, both living and deceased. They revitalize communal rituals and practices, creating a sense of shared humanity.
Professor Sławkowski-Rode has written widely on the philosophical and ethical dimensions of mourning, grief, and memory, and his works have appeared in The New York Times as well as various academic publications. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the nature of grief as a multifaceted emotional response, extending beyond a psychological state and reaching into existential realms; the role of memory in the grieving process; why love and grief are fundamentally inseparable; how the atomization of modern society affects our ability to mourn; and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:20 - The focus of Sławkowski-Rode’s current work and what his day looks like as a philosopher
8:10 - The value of philosophy in society
12:42 - How Sławkowski-Rode became inspired to study grief
14:57 - Why grief has become more “hidden” in society over the past century
23:49 - How the “cult of individuality” leads our society to ignore aging and death
33:45 - How Sławkowski-Rode defines “human flourishing”
36:31 - How the atomization of modern society affects our ability to mourn
50:00 - Practical advices for clinicians on how to navigate grief and mourning for themselves and their patients
Mikołaj Sławkowski-Rode is the author of the New York Times op ed It’s OK to Never ‘Get Over’ Your Griefand numerous academic publications.
Dr. Sławkowski-Rode can be found on Twitter/X at @MikolajRode.
Works and past episodes discussed:
The Hours of Our Death by Philipe Aries
Episode 21: Pain, Pleasure and Finding the Balance | Anna Lembke, MD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
For a profession like medicine in which suffering — be it physical, psychological, existential, or spiritual — is so commonly encountered and experienced, we have developed remarkably little shared vocabulary about what suffering means. That is, if we even have the conversations at all.
In early June 2024, during the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual conference in Chicago, we hosted a live podcast event at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, gathering Sunita Puri, MD and Jay Wellons, MD, MSPH to explore the great problem of suffering. Dr. Puri, a palliative care physician and author of the best selling book That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the 11th Hour (2019), last joined us on Episode 74: The Beauty of Impermanence. Dr. Wellons, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and author of the memoir All That Moves Us: A pediatric neurosurgeon, His Young Patients and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience (2022), last joined us on Episode 28: The Brain and All That Moves Us.
The four of us, the guests and co-hosts, start by sharing our personal encounters with suffering, both in our patients and in ourselves, before discussing our philosophical approaches to and practical strategies for accompanying patients through suffering, managing spiritual distress, contextualizing our own humanity in these encounters, maintaining our own well-being, and searching for meaning amid these tragic moments, if it is possible. After our main discussion, we also answer audience questions about managing the sometimes unrealistic and complicated expectations patients have of clinicians, and the role of interfaith discussions among healthcare professionals.
We thank Kelly Michelson, MD, MPH and the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at Northwestern University for making this event possible.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:58 - Stories of confronting suffering, both in professional and personal contexts
29:02 - Practical tips for coping with suffering and uncertainty as a physician
31:53 - The importance of psychological safety in feeling and expressing your emotions as a physician
36:52 - Being present in the moment while accompanying patients through difficult times
40:00 - Helping doctors re-connect with the deeper reason of why they feel called to medicine
42:24 - The inexplicable relationship between love and loss
52:04 - The deep sense of meaning inherent in the work of a physician and what makes it “real”
54:41 - Q&A: How physicians can better navigate the challenging expectations patients have as well as medical skepticism
1:04:05 - Q&A: How we can better incorporate interfaith dialogue into medical training and practice
Dr. Jay Wellons is the author of All That Moves Us (2022) and can be found on Twitter/X at @JayWellons5.
Dr. Sunita Puri is the author of That Good Night (2019) and can be found on Twitter/X at @SunitaPuriMD.
Most of us take free will for granted — from the biggest of life decisions to choosing an ice cream flavor, we are generally capable of freely deciding how to think and how to behave without outside influence. But Robert Sapolsky believes our decisions cannot be disentangled from our genetics, environment, and neurobiology. In other words, to him, free will does not exist.
Dr. Sapolsky, a neuroscientist and primatologist at Stanford University, is a leading thinker on the biology of stress, human behavior, neurodegenerative diseases, and the science of free will and determinism. He is the author of multiple bestselling books, including Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (1994), Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (2017), andDetermined: A Science of Life Without Free Will (2023). His works have been featured widely in the popular press, from National Geographic to The New York Times.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Sapolsky presents his arguments against free will, along the way making detours through chaos and complexity theory, philosophy, ethics, and neuroscience. He shows how subtracting free will from the way culture thinks about crime, mental health, and human development have resulted in more humane health, justice, and educational systems. Finally, we contemplate together what human flourishing even means in the context of a life without free will.
His ideas have profound implications not just on our society, but also on our understanding of human nature, challenging our perceptions and provoking deep reflection on how we navigate the choices in our lives.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:08 - How Dr. Sapolsky chose a career straddling both neuroscience and primatology
5:04 - The moment when Dr. Sapolsky realized he did not believe humans have free will
16:16 - How society becomes more humane when free will is factored out
23:29 - The deep implications that free will and determinism could have on criminology
34:13 - How a belief in a lack of free will can negatively affect motivation on a societal scale
43:11 - What does human flourishing look like in a world without free will?
48:07 - The best moments in life in which to utilize this understanding of free will
Dr. Robert Sapolsky has authored numerous publications, a full bibliography of his works can be found here.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky can be found on Instagram at @robert.sapolsky
Works and past episodes discussed:
What’s Expected of Us by Ted Chiang
Episode 79: Transcendence in the Age of Science | Alan Lightman, PhD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Conventionally, we are taught that evolution implies there is no ultimate purpose to our existence, that life lacks inherent meaning — we are the product of countless intricate molecular and genetic accidents. And to many, evolution leaves little room for, and perhaps even contradicts, the existence of a deity.
However, our guest on this episode, Samuel Wilkinson, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Yale University, thinks there is another way to look at evolution. Drawing from an array of disciplines ranging from evolutionary biology to cognitive science, Dr. Wilkinson provides a framework for evolution suggesting not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what that purpose is. He presents this framework in his 2024 book, Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply about the Meaning of Our Existence.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Wilkinson shares how an existential crisis during medical school led him down the path of exploring the ways evolution can be reconciled with fundamental questions and answers about life's meaning; how navigating the dual potential of human nature — pulling us between selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation — is key to understanding our purpose; why evolution does not exclude the possibility of existence of a god or gods; the importance of relationships in living fulfilling lives; the role of free will in the choice between good and evil; and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
3:37 - How a drive to understand human nature drove Dr. Wilkinson to leave his engineering studies and pursue a career as a psychiatrist.
4:44 - The scope of Dr. Wilkinson’s work at Yale
7:13 - What studying depression has taught Dr. Wilkinson about human nature
9:00 - How Dr. Wilkinson views the connection between evolution and God
24:00 - How the central argument of Dr. Wilkinson’s book differs from intelligent design
26:41 - Dr. Wilkinson’s view of selfishness in human nature
37:49 - The deeper meaning that Dr. Wilkinson sees within the biological patterns of evolution
39:04 - The validity of moral relativism
43:42 - “The Rider and the Elephant” as a metaphor for human nature
45:43 - Dr. Wilkinson’s thoughts on free will
55:15 - How marriage can provide a cornerstone to building “a good life”
58:10 - The way in which Dr. Wilkinson’s faith fits into his personal view of human nature
1:04:42 - How Dr. Wilkinson brings these principles into his clinical practice
Dr. Samuel Wilkinson is the author of Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply about the Meaning of Our Existence (2024).
Works and Individuals Discussed:
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky
Michael Behe and the concept of intelligent design
Free Will by Sam Harris
Past episodes referenced in today’s discussion:
For Mark Lewis, MD, cancer has defined his entire life. Growing up, he witnessed his father's valiant struggle with cancer before it eventually ended his life. While still in medical training, he not only developed pancreatic cancer but also discovered the culprit. Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, an inherited syndrome that drastically increases one's risk of cancers, runs in his family. So now, as a father, he guides his son in making sense of a life burdened with that risk. What’s more, as an oncologist, Dr. Lewis has also dedicated his professional life to understanding and treating cancers of the gastrointestinal system.
In this deeply personal conversation filled with pathos, wisdom, and hope, Dr. Lewis shares how he learned to cope with the rage he felt towards cancer in his early years, the solace he finds in religion and how he tactfully approaches matters of spirituality with his patients, how he was fundamentally transformed after undergoing the daunting Whipple surgical procedure, the wonder he feels when considering the remarkable progress science has made in cancer therapies, and how he channels his personal experiences to connect with patients.
This is an episode that paints a portrait of grace, resilience, and courage in the face of suffering and loss, and it reminds us to search for the dignity that is inherent in the act of caring for another person.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:43 - How watching his father deal with cancer led Dr. Lewis to a career in medicine.
7:04 - How Dr. Lewis managed the grief and rage that came with his father’s passing.
11:10 - How the speed of medical innovation drives Dr. Lewis’ optimism.
19:51 - The role that faith plays in Dr. Lewis’ work and in his relationships with patients.
29:07 - Dr. Lewis’ experience as a cancer patient and how it has informed his work as an oncologist.
39:21 - The ethical challenges involved in often-toxic treatments in oncology.
42:24 - The deeper meaning that Dr. Lewis has found through his experiences at the intersection of science and faith.
48:57 - Dr. Lewis’ advice for empathizing and connecting with patients.
Dr. Mark Lewis can be found on Twitter/X at @marklewismd.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of over $50 billion, is one of the largest and most influential philanthropic organizations in the world. With a focus on addressing global health, poverty, and education, its initiatives have led to the reduction of malaria mortality by 60% over the past two decades, the near eradication of polio, increased educational opportunities of millions of students, and improved sanitation conditions for millions of people in developing countries.
For six years, oncologist Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH was the CEO of this organization. Prior to that, she served as Chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco, as well as President of Product Development at Genentech, where she oversaw the development of Herceptin, Avastin, Rituxan, and other blockbuster cancer drugs that are now staples in the arsenal of many medical oncologists.
The topics of our discussion in this episode are as varied as Dr. Desmond-Hellman's career. We discuss, among other things, how seeing the work of her pharmacist father encouraged her to pursue a career in medicine, how her early experiences treating HIV patients in Uganda spurred her to tackle global health challenges, how she discovered a passion for product development in the pharmaceutical industry, how she reconciles the ethical quandaries of developing medications that can cause serious adverse effects and that can sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per dose, what her mission while at the Gates Foundation was, and her perspectives on the role of artificial intelligence and human health and well-being, now that she has joined the board of directors of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:50 - How working in her father’s pharmacy led Dr. Desmond-Hellmann to a career in medicine
4:56 - A brief summary of Dr. Desmond-Hellmann’s multifaceted career trajectory
15:36 - What the day to day work of pharmaceutical drug development looks like
18:30 - The challenging ethical concerns that surround drug approvals especially as it pertains to safety concerns
23:44 - Dr. Desmond-Hellmann’s experiences in Uganda that forever transformed her views on poverty
27:55 - The aims of the Gates Foundation
30:47 - How Dr. Desmond-Hellmann views her work both in the non-profit and the for-profit sectors
37:15 - Dr. Desmond-Hellmann’s mission when she took on a leading role at The Gates Foundation
38:38 - How Dr. Desmond-Hellmann thinks about shaping the future of AI as she takes a seat on the board of OpenAI
45:14 - Dr. Desmond-Hellmann’s advice for medical trainees and clinicians on how to navigate the many opportunities available to them along their career path
Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann can be found on Twitter/X @suedhellmann.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
In today's world, the idea of “identifying your values” is so ubiquitous, appearing from corporate mission statements to self-help books, that it can seem trivialized to the point of meaninglessness. But in this episode, Ira Bedzow, PhD reminds us it does not have to be this way—explorations of personal values can be an inspiring, holistic, and thought provoking process that transforms everything that we do, from finding joy in work to building fulfilling relationships.
Bedzow is the executive director of the Emory Purpose Project, an initiative at Emory University that provides opportunities for students to develop a capacity for reflection on purpose and meaning. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, a core faculty member of Emory's Center for Ethics, a senior fellow in Emory's Center for the Study of Law and Religion, and an Orthodox rabbi.
Over the course of our conversation, Bedzow discusses how he helps people discover their life purpose, how he teaches moral leadership, how he wrestles with questions of moral relativism, the connection between a loss of purpose and burnout, how he counsels clinicians on resolving ethical quandaries, and more.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:21 - The varied roles that make up Dr. Bedzow’s current career
8:06 - What “values” mean
15:53 - The principles Dr. Bedzow employs when counseling students on their career and life aspirations
19:07 - Applying ethical thinking to medical scenarios
27:36 - How Dr. Bedzow counsels leadership at an organizational level
31:02 - The connection between a loss of sense of purpose and burnout
39:01 - How organizations and individuals can proactively foster a sense of mission
42:05 - The deep meaning that Dr. Bedzow finds in his religion
45:23 - Truths that Judaism can offer the world
Ira Bedzow is the author of the essay How Purpose and Employee Empowerment Can Stop Burnout.
Ira Bedzow can be found on Twitter/X at @ijbedzow.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Terminal lucidity is a mysterious yet well-documented phenomenon in which someone at the end of life—including those who have suffered strokes or other brain injuries, or those afflicted by dementia—suddenly returns with mental clarity and is able to recognize loved ones and engage in meaningful and emotionally rich conversations. It challenges our fundamental understanding and assumptions about the nature of consciousness, brain function in the context of severe illness, and personhood.
In this episode, Alexander Batthyány, PhD, a cognitive scientist and the Director of the Viktor Frankl Institute, offers insights on terminal lucidity from his years of study on this phenomenon from a philosophical, ethical, neurological, and psychological perspective. He is the author of the 2023 book Threshold: Terminal Lucidity and the Border of Life and Death.
Over the course of our conversation, he shares how witnessing terminal lucidity in his grandmother has shaped his life purpose, why he chooses to use the word “soul” in his academic research, the role of spirituality and religion in making sense of terminal lucidity, the limits of our scientific and materialistic understanding of the brain, what terminal lucidity reveals about the dignity and unpredictability inherent in the human condition, and what it ultimately teaches us about kindness and compassion.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:31 - The personal experience that drew Dr. Batthyány to study terminal lucidity
6:34 - An exploration of human dignity
12:26 - The importance of talking and thinking about the human “soul”
18:26 - Definition and phenomenology of terminal lucidity
23:57 - What is known about brain functioning during episodes of terminal lucidity
31:44 - Advice for caregivers, family members, and clinicians if a patient experiences terminal lucidity
36:55 - The prevalence of terminal lucidity
40:14 - Whether individuals who experience terminal lucidity have insight into their condition
42:15 - Why phenomena like terminal lucidity matter
Dr. Alexander Batthyány is the author of Threshold: Terminal Lucidity and the Border of Life and Death (2023).
Dr. Batthyány can be found in Twitter/X at @Alxdr_Batthyany.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) plays a crucial role in health care. As the organization that oversees medical education and thus the pipeline of future medical professionals in the United States, its critical duties include administering the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), managing the residency application service, drafting guidelines for faculty members and departments at medical schools and academic hospitals, disseminating data on medical education and workforce trends that shape policymaking at medical schools and government bodies, and promoting diversity in health care.
Leading this organization is David Skorton, MD, a cardiologist and pioneer of cardiac imaging and computer processing techniques, who also previously served as the 13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and as President of Cornell University and of the University of Iowa. In this episode, Dr. Skorton shares with us how his family's immigrant past has shaped him, how he went from struggling during his own medical school application process more than 50 years ago to now leading an organization that represents all medical schools and teaching hospitals, why the arts and humanities matter to him, how he thinks about medical education given the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, what great mentors look like, how effective leadership often means learning from everyone around you, and more.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:42 - Dr. Skorton’s unexpected path from jazz musician to President of the AAMC
7:42 - Why current medical admissions aim to be “holistic”
12:09 - The lessons Dr. Skorton learned through mentorship and why the arts and humanities can create better doctors
17:32 - How Dr. Skorton has been able to “see past himself” enough to receive challenging criticism from mentors
28:01 - The core tenets of Dr. Skorton’s leadership philosophy
31:35 - How the AAMC views the future of medical education especially in light of advances in artificial intelligence
38:47 - The importance of diverse healthcare teams
46:32 - Issues that Dr. Skorton addresses through his role at the AAMC
Dr. David Skorton can be found on Twitter/X at @DavidJSkorton.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
In spring of 2020, Cornelia Griggs, MD was finishing her nearly decade-long training to become a pediatric surgeon in New York City, when COVID-19 struck and life fell apart. The hospital was flooded with mysteriously sick patients for whom no known treatments existed, basic supplies disappeared from shelves, and each day at work took on an existential burden as she wondered if this would be the day she caught the deadly disease herself.
Dr. Griggs describes these dramatic stories from the early days of the pandemic in her 2024 memoir, The Sky Was Falling. Today, she is a triple board-certified pediatric surgeon, having completed medical school and pediatric surgery fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center, and her adult general surgery residency and surgical critical care fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she currently practices.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Griggs describes the course of her challenging training in medicine, why it takes “a little crazy” to succeed as a surgeon, harrowing moments that defined heroism amid the throes of the pandemic, how she continued working even when giving up was the easy option, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:26 - What initially drew Dr. Griggs into the field of medicine and to the speciality of pediatric surgery
14:35 - Why the operating room is a “safe space” for Dr. Griggs
19:36 - The sense of alarm that Dr. Griggs experienced in the early days of the pandemic that drove her to write her viral New York Times op-ed, The Sky is Falling
28:26 - How Dr. Griggs fell into an “investigative reporter” headspace as the pandemic raged around her in New York City
30:26 - The sense of fear that enveloped both patients and the medical community during the first months of the pandemic
40:27 - A moment during the early pandemic when Dr. Griggs seriously considered leaving the city and her post in the hospital
46:30 - How ICU nurses brought dignity and humanity when tending to seriously ill COVID-19 patients
51:16 - The hopefulness Dr. Griggs carries in seeing the large number of people who have entered medicine since the pandemic
Dr. Cornelia Griggs can be found on Twitter/X at @CorneliaLG.
Dr. Griggs is the author ofThe Sky Was Falling (2024).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
To many health economists, the growing aging population is the greatest public health challenge facing America. The current fragmented and costly healthcare system is simply incapable of dealing with the complex medical and socioeconomic needs of this population, especially in an equitable way.
Our guest on this episode, Linda Fried, MD, MPH, has dedicated her life to rethinking how we can create better health futures for older adults. Her pioneering research has expanded our notions of aging and longevity in the 21st century. Dr. Fried, a geriatrician and epidemiologist, is Dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Senior Vice President of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and former Founding Director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins University.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Fried shares how her early experiences as a caseworker drove her to study medicine, surprising lessons from the martial arts aikido, what frailty means in the context of caring for older adults, why America is one of the most age segregated societies in the world, the flaws of over medicalizing health issues, redefining the roles of older adults in society, the importance of meaning and community in sustaining happiness in life, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:30 - What Dr. Fried’s early experiences in social work taught her about justice, social inequity, and taking care of another person
11:47 - How an awareness of the social determinants of health shaped Dr. Fried as a clinician
16:46 - Why physicians need to stop “medicalizing” all aspects of a patient’s life
25:00 - How Dr. Fried came to be interested in geriatrics
28:19 - Dr. Fried’s dedication to extending “healthspan” as well as “lifespan” in our society
31:08 - The clinical definition of “frailty”
34:15 - The value that an older population could bring to our society
38:49 - The United States’ unique culture of age segregation and how it contributes to poor health outcomes for the elderly
45:38 - What the healthcare system and society at large can do to better serve elderly populations
50:55 - Dr. Fried’s advice for keeping true to your purpose as a medical professional
Dr. Linda Fried can be found on LinkedIn.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
The history of cardiac surgery is filled with tales of intrepid surgeons with larger-than-life personalities who pushed the limits of the human body and the bounds of what were then considered acceptable medical practices. The result? Heart transplants, pacemakers, artificial heart valves, heart-lung machines, and other once-unthinkable and experimental procedures that have now saved millions of lives.
Our guest in this episode, Gerald Imber, MD, charts these remarkable developments in his 2024 book Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery. While not writing books on the history of medicine, Dr. Imber is a practicing plastic surgeon who specializes in cosmetic surgery. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Imber talks about the challenging yet rewarding training he underwent as a surgery resident, what it means to have an “eye for aesthetics,” why he decided to write a book on the history of heart surgery, stories of daring surgeons from this history, how he reconciles the drive to push the frontiers of medicine with a regard for patient safety, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:15 - What drew Dr. Imber to a career in surgery
7:55 - Dr. Imber’s grueling experiences as a general surgery resident
11:52 - Dr. Imber’s transition into plastic surgery and the aesthetic sensibilities necessary for this speciality
22:46 - What Dr. Imber’s current plastic surgery practice looks like
24:28 - How Dr. Imber finds fulfillment and meaning in his work
25:21 - What motivated Dr. Imber to write Cardiac Cowboys, a book about the history of open heart surgery
30:47 - Balancing risks to patient lives with medical and surgical experimentation
34:25 - A brief history of open heart surgery
40:02 - Key milestones in the development of open heart surgery
45:24 - What Dr. Imber hopes readers take away from Cardiac Cowboys
Dr. Gerald Imber is the author of Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery (2024) and Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted(2010).
Dr. Imber can be found on Instagram at @geraldimbermd.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Rotavirus, a highly contagious virus that causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, used to kill more than half a million children annually. But the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine has slashed that number dramatically, saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year.
Joining us in this episode is Paul Offit, MD, a co-inventor of one of the two most widely used rotavirus vaccines worldwide. Dr. Offit is a professor of pediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A leading world expert on vaccines, he served on the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the author of more than 15 books, most recently Tell Me When It's Over: An Insider's Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating our Post-Pandemic World (2024).
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Offit shares what drew him to pediatrics, how he developed a vaccine that now saves hundreds of kids every day, the stringent process by which new medications are approved, the origins of vaccine hesitancy. Why public health communication failed during the COVID-19 pandemic, what we can do to restore public trust in medicine, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:24 - The harrowing experience Dr. Offit endured as a young child that inspired him to a seek a career in pediatrics
6:40 - How Dr. Offit’s research led to a successful rotavirus vaccine in 2006
10:46 - A brief history of vaccines
16:40 - Why Dr. Offit chose to become a public advocate for vaccines
20:14 - Why vaccines have garnered such intense backlash from large proportions of the public
26:44 - Factors that have led to an erosion of trust in public health over the past four years
33:01 - What Dr. Offit means when he talks about “following the science”
40:35 - How public health officials can speak about scientific knowledge in a way that acknowledges uncertainty
47:37 - The future of vaccines mandates in our society
54:16 - Dr. Offit’s advice for building trust with skeptical parents
Dr. Paul Offit is the author of 13 books, including Tell Me When It's Over: An Insider's Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating our Post-Pandemic World(2024).
Dr. Offit can be found on Twitter/X at @DrPaulOffit.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Soon after finishing his first semester of college, Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD excitedly told his father that he'd dedicate his life to starting a social justice movement. In response, his father sternly reprimanded him, saying that the only career he'd support was one in medicine. Dr. Kim acquiesced, but over the subsequent decades would hold on to this passion for social justice and become one of the most influential individuals working in global health, poverty reduction, and sustainable development.
He co-founded Partners in Health, today a renowned medical humanitarian organization that operates in the poorest areas of developing countries. From there, he served as advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization and as Director of its HIV/Aids Department. He would then serve as the 17th President of Dartmouth College, before being selected as President of the World Bank, a position he would hold for seven years.
In this episode, Dr. Kim joins us to discuss his unique training combining medicine with anthropology, the cultural factors that shaped his understanding of international development, how he spearheaded radical efforts to treat millions of HIV and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients around the world, the inner mechanisms of the World Bank, the moral philosophy that drives his work, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:32 - Dr Kim’s motivation for pursuing both medicine and anthropology
8:04 - How Dr. Kim paired his clinical training with his passion for social justice
16:46 - How Dr. Kim stayed true to his moral convictions as he faced challenges in managing global crises such as the HIV epidemic in Africa
26:29 - The story of PEPFAR, one of the most ambitious initiatives to address the global HIV/AIDS pandemic pandemic
30:45 - How committing to moral justice can help people think outside of the box to meet the economic needs of a situation
33:36 - The history and goals of the World Bank
38:11 - How Dr. Kim prepared for his role at the World Bank, an organization that operates in many sectors in addition to global health
43:28 - How Dr. Kim maintains a sense of purpose and fulfillment throughout his career
Dr. Jim Yong Kim can be found on Twitter/X at @jim_yong12.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
It's a cliche to say health care is broken. However, the extent to which it is unnecessarily convoluted, inefficient, and fragmented frustrates even the most experienced clinicians each time they are forced to deal with its consequences. Medical records disappear when a patient switches doctors. Critical details of life-saving treatment plans are buried deep within thousands of pages worth of electronic charts.
In this episode, Stanford oncologist and journalist Ilana Yurkiewicz, MD explores all the ways that modern medicine is riddled with gaps and the incredible strain this puts on providers, patients, and caregivers alike. She is the author of the 2023 book Fragmented: A Doctor's Quest to Piece Together American Health Care. In the first half of our conversation, Dr. Yurkiewicz shares how she connects with patients and helps them through the worst moments of their lives—often taking place after a cancer has been treated. In the second half, we discuss why electronic medical records are failing doctors and patients, how clinicians can strive to retain a sense of autonomy, and how she manages the uncertainty that this broken system frequently imposes upon her.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:53 - Dr. Yurkiewicz’s day job as a primary care physician specializing in cancer patients and survivors
5:49 - The benefits that cancer patients and survivors receive in seeing a primary care provider with additional training in oncology
10:34 - What initially drew Dr. Yurkiewicz to oncology
15:00 - Why helping people through times of suffering is meaningful to Dr. Yurkiewicz
18:30 - How Dr. Yurkiewicz became adept at dealing with the diverse emotional psychosocial of cancer survivors
22:45 - What “fragmentation of the healthcare system” means to Dr. Yurkiewicz
24:24 - How patients expect the medical system to work versus how it actually works
34:30 - The challenges physicians face in piecing together a patient’s story through medical charts
39:12 - The consequences of fragmented medical records
46:26 - How electronic medical records can be improved
50:44 - How Dr. Yurkiewicz retains a sense of autonomy amid a fragmented system
58:11 - Dr. Yurkiewicz’s approach to having difficult and high-stakes conversations with patients
Dr. Ilana Yurkiewicz is the author of Fragmented: A Doctor's Quest to Piece Together American Health Care (2023).
Dr. Yurkiewicz can be found on Instagram at @iyurkiewiczmd.
In this episode, we discuss Danielle Ofri’s 2019 New York Times Op Ed The Business of Healthcare is Built on Exploiting Healthcare Workers.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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We didn’t choose to live this life. In its most difficult moments, it's all too natural to ask the question, “What makes life worth living?”
This question, so central to philosophy since ancient times, is what we explore in this episode with Nick Riggle, a professor of philosophy at University of California, San Diego. Riggle is the author of several books, most recently 2022’s This Beauty: A Philosophy of Being Alive.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss aesthetics, which is the branch of philosophy concerned with beauty and art; the various ways that we, successfully or otherwise, have attempted to find meaning in life; why finding beauty and building an aesthetic community is so crucial to human well-being; and much more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:29 - Nick’s path from being a pro-skater to becoming a philosophy professor and author
8:41 - How Nick approaches surveying philosophical thought through history
10:22 - The importance that aesthetics and beauty play in Nick’s studies
19:13 - What motivated Nick to write his book This Beauty
21:04 - How Nick conceptualized answering the central question of his book
23:51 - The takeaways that Nick personally found for what makes life worth living
29:15 - What it means to pay attention to the beautiful things in life
32:18 - Are some kinds of beauty and art “better” than others?
34:47 - The value of creating an aesthetic community
39:12 - Living an aesthetic life when your physical or mental state is limited
Nick Riggle is the author of multiple books and publications, including This Beauty: A Philosophy of Being Alive (2022), Aesthetic Life and Why it Matters (2022), and On Being Awesome: A Unified Theory on How Not to Suck (2017).
Nick Riggle can be found on Instagram at @nickriggle.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Anyone who has interacted with ChatGPT is likely to agree that it is one of the most powerful and transformative artificial intelligence tools out there. Writes our guest on this episode, Microsoft's Chief Scientific OfficerEric Horvitz, MD, PhD, “ChatGPT left me awestruck. It is a polymath with a remarkable capacity to integrate traditionally disparate concepts and methodologies to weave together ideas that transcend disciplinary boundaries.”
Dr. Horvitz is one of the leading voices in artificial intelligence (AI), serving now on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and formerly as President of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. His research has been foundational to machine learning, AI integration of multisensory streams of information, computational models in imperfect information systems, and applications of AI amidst the complexities of the open world. As it happens, Dr. Horvitz is also a physician by training.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Horvitz discusses how studying AI has enabled him to explore the mysteries of human intelligence and why there are some domains of the human experience that AI will never capture. As you will hear, he brings an eloquent optimism to articulating the ways that AI will contribute to human flourishing.
In this episode, we discuss:
3:00 - Dr. Horvitz early trajectory from medical school to a PhD in computer science
7:42 - What Dr. Horvitz’s studies in AI have taught him about natural intelligence
10:00 - A primer of generative AI
21:16 - Dr. Horvitz’s view on the future potentials and dangers that AI will bring to society
29:04 - How the profit motive might shape the utilization of AI in our society
36:48 - The importance of approaching AI development from a human-centered lens
47:29 - What human flourishing could look like in a society steeped in artificial intelligence
Dr. Eric Horvitz is the author of numerous publications on artificial intelligence and its role in society.
Dr. Horvitz can be found on Twitter/X at @erichorvitz.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
If you were to rank all the medical specialties by the arduousness of the training required, the technical complexity and high stress of the interventions involved, and the harshness of the working hours, cardiothoracic surgery would be near or at the top of anyone's list.
In this episode, cardiac surgeon and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center Craig Smith, MD takes us into the heart and mind of a physician who regularly cracks open a person's chest to manipulate some of their most anatomically intricate parts in order to save their lives. He is the author of the 2023 memoir Nobility in Small Things: A Surgeon's Path, and famously performed the quadruple bypass surgery that saved former US president Bill Clinton's life in 2004.
Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Smith discusses the joys of exploring the human body, what motivates him to get up at 4 a.m. every day with the same burning passion for his work, why his family is one of the most important elements of work life balance, how he deals with mistakes and adverse events in the operating room, and more.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:23 - Dr. Smith’s initial path to medicine
4:43 - What drew Dr. Smith to the field of cardiothoracic surgery and how he handles the high-stakes nature of the work.
15:47 - What happens when a surgery goes not go according to plan
18:54 - Dr. Smith’s approach to comforting and connecting with patients prior to surgery
22:24 - Dr. Smith’s experience performing surgery while struggling through what he later learned was a very early case of COVID-19 in early 2020
29:03 - How Dr. Smith views work-life balance
34:17 - The role of spirituality and religion in Dr. Smith’s work
35:51 - How Dr. Smith has retained his sense of purpose and calling throughout his career
45:28 – A patient story that encapsulates why performing surgery is so meaningful for Dr. Smith
Dr. Craig Smith is the author of Nobility in Small Things: A Surgeon’s Path (2023).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
When Kathy Giusti was told she had multiple myeloma one fateful day in 1996, she was 37 and in the midst of a successful rising career. She was the mother of a one-year-old baby with plans to have a second child. The disease had few treatments and she was given three years to live. Instead of sitting back, however, Kathy took action to create her own hope. That meant not only conducting research on treatments where there was none, but doing it with unprecedented speed and precision.
She founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and became its first CEO. In the two decades since, the foundation has spearheaded a clinical network that has conducted nearly 100 trials and launched more than 150 new drugs, drastically increasing the life expectancy of patients from 3 to 10 years. For her work, she has been included among Fortune Magazine's list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders and TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world. Kathy is also the author of the 2024 book Fatal to Fearless, which helps cancer patients understand and navigate their own care.
Over the course of our conversation, Kathy describes her life before and after her diagnosis of multiple myeloma, how and why she took initiative to create new treatments for her own disease, what happened after she received a new diagnosis of breast cancer in 2022, and how all patients can better make the healthcare system work for them.
In this episode, we discuss:
3:00 - Kathy’s life before she was diagnosed with cancer
4:56 - What is multiple myeloma?
8:58 - Kathy’s reaction upon learning her diagnosis, both intellectually and emotionally
18:36 - How Kathy navigated the experience of concurrently going through IVF and cancer treatment
22:30 - The sources of support that Kathy leaned on throughout her cancer journey
24:40 - How Kathy and her sister started the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
34:53 - How the treatment landscape for multiple myeloma has changed since Kathy was diagnosed in 1996
41:00 - A glossary of medical terms that have been discussed in this episode
44:33 - The current status of Kathy’s multiple myeloma
50:39 - Kathy’s key advice for both cancer patients and health care professionals for navigating cancer treatment
Kathy Guisti is the author of From Fatal of Fearless: 12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System (2024).
In this episode we discuss the book When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, and the essay The Median is Not the Message by Jay Gould, PhD, and our past episode The Physician Who Cured Himself (with Dr. David Fajgenbaum).Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
In the 100th episode of The Doctor's Art, we reflect on the lessons and insights we have heard from guests over the past two years. We first share the story of how The Doctor’s Art podcast came to be, then we discuss some of the most meaningful and impactful episodes for us and how the show has changed the way we practice medicine and approach life. Finally, we share exciting new directions in which we hope to take the program.
In this episode, we discuss:
1:45 - How The Doctor’s Art podcast came to be
9:20 - Reflections on the growth and evolution of the podcast
16:05 - The deep meaning that Tyler found in recording Episode 19 (Art, Drama and a Terminal Illness, with Ellen Dunphy), which featured a terminally ill patient under his care shortly before her passing
22:35 - How Episode 41 (Love and Mercy in the ICU, with Wes Ely) set Henry up for success as he began his career as a physician
30:22 - The insights on suffering in Episode 52 (A Space for Mystery, with Elisha Waldman) that have influenced Tyler’s personal and professional lives
33:25 - How Episode 65 (Everyday Wonder in Medicine and Beyond, with Dacher Keltner) helped Henry find awe in everyday moments while working in the hospital
36:07 - The single sentence in Episode 73 (The Physician Who Cured Himself, with David Fajgenbaum) that has stayed with Henry and reminds him to cherish how our bodies work
39:10 - The two episodes that challenged the way Tyler perceives the world (Episode 86: Reflections at the End of Sight, with Andrew Leland and Episode 91: Inside a Suicidal Mind, with Clancy Martin)
41:24 - How Dacher Keltner’s explanation of awe points to the kinds of experiences and activities we can value and why some are more transformative than others
44:01 - The unexpected effect that Episode 21 (Pain, Pleasure, and Finding the Balance, with Anna Lembke) had on Tyler’s perception of addiction within our modern lives
51:37 - What’s next for The Doctor’s Art podcast
We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for listening to this show. We would also like to thank our guests for their generosity in sharing their time with us.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
At the mention of human consciousness and the supposed interconnectivity of all things, your mind probably conjures up the countless books on meditation, alternative medicine, and mysticism that permeate self-help sections of bookstores. But complexity theory attempts to apply rigorous scientific analyses to universal questions of consciousness and being. At its heart, complexity theory seeks to understand how complex behaviors and patterns emerge from simple rules and interactions within a system. This theory, which draws from mathematics, computer science, and physics, challenges our traditional reductionist approaches to biology and reveals how life self-organizes from the substance of our universe, from interactions within the quantum foam to the formation of atoms and molecules, cells, human beings, social structures, ecosystems, and beyond.
Here to tell us more about it is Neil Theise, MD, a pathologist and complexity theorist who in 2023 wrote the book Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness and Being. Dr. Theise is Co-Director of Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine and is a pioneer of adult stem cell plasticity and the anatomy of the human interstitium.
In the first half of our conversation, Dr. Theise discusses his journey to pathology by way of Jewish studies and computer science during college, what it's like to decipher diseases through his biopsy samples, and the significance of being the doctor that other doctors turn to for guidance on treatments. In the second half of our conversation, Dr. Theise gives us a primer of complexity theory and how it seeks to explain the beauty and mysteries of life.
In this episode, we discuss:
4:01 - What a pathologist does and why Dr. Theise finds the work fulfilling
8:15 - Dr. Theise’s path to becoming a pathologist
15:22 - The unique role of pathologists in learning life-changing information about patients
20:42 - What it’s like to be the doctor that other doctors turn to for diagnostic puzzles
24:43 - A primer to complexity theory
37:03 - The difference between chaos theory and complexity theory
40:35 - How Dr. Theise came to study complexity theory and how it relates to our understanding of the body
54:38 - Why Dr. Theise believes that people should bring metaphysics back into their lives
Dr. Neil Theise can be found on Instagram at @neiltheise.
Dr. Neil Theise is the author of Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being(2023).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
There is an increasing body of scientific evidence demonstrating a phenomenon humans across cultures have long known intuitively: we are biologically wired for art. Engaging in the arts transforms our neural circuitry in deep ways that we are only beginning to uncover, and studies are showing how the arts can help us live longer, stave off cognitive decline, reduce our stress hormones, nurture the development of young minds, reduce the impacts of PTSD, and more.
Joining us in this episode are two individuals at the forefront of the movement to translate this groundbreaking research to medicine, public health, education, the workplace, and other real world applications. Susan Magsamen is the director of the International Arts and Mind Lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where her research focuses on how our brains respond to artistic experiences. Ivy Ross is an acclaimed jewelry designer and Vice President of hardware design at Google. Together, they coauthored the 2023 New York Times best seller Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.
Over the course of our conversation, Susan and Ivy discuss the emerging field of neuroaesthetics, how the arts can make us healthier, smarter and happier, and how we can incorporate more art into our everyday lives.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:40 - How Susan and Ivy’s paths led them to neuroarts
7:46 - What does it mean to be in a “flow state”?
15:12 - An introduction to neuroaesthetics and neuroarts
18:33 - Surprising impacts the arts have on health
25:58 - The health benefits of creating art in community
29:51 - What “aesthetics” means in the context of Susan and Ivy’s studies
33:53 - The science behind how the arts support healing
39:45 - Practical tips for someone who wants to begin engaging with art
46:32 - Dispelling the myth of “high art vs low art”
Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross are the co-authors of Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us (2023).
Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross can be found on Instagram at @yourbrainonartbook.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Born in India in 1920, Gladys McGarey, MD has a life story marked with various pivotal moments of the 20th century. She witnessed Gandhi's Salt March in her final childhood days in India, arrived in the US amid the Great Depression, began medical school four months before the US joined World War II, and became a physician at a time when few women were accepted in the profession. She would later co-found the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine and the American Board of Integrative Medicine. At over 100 years old, Dr Gladys, as she likes to be called, is still practicing medicine. In 2023, she published The Well-Lived Life A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness At Every Age, in which she details her approach to a happy life by focusing on finding love and purpose.
In this episode, Dr Gladys joins us to discuss her remarkable journey in medicine, what holistic medicine means to her, her own experiences with cancer, the healing power of love and human connection, and more.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
2:08 - Dr. Gladys’ early years and her path to becoming a physician
7:20 - The discrimination that Dr. Gladys endured as a female physician
11:02 - What Dr. Gladys’ medical practice looked like when she began her career
12:23 - Dr. Gladys’s definition of holistic medicine and how it became a part of her practice
18:22 - Dr. Gladys’s case for why love is essential when providing healing for a patient
23:27 - How Dr. Gladys’ own experience as a cancer patient demonstrates her approach to holistic medicine
26:12 - What Dr. Gladys believes has been lost amidst all of the advances that medicine has made
30:09 - How spirituality has affected Dr. Gladys’ approach to medicine
31:41 - Concrete ways that doctors can incorporate holistic sensibilities into their practices
Dr. Gladys can be found on Instagram at @begladmd.
Dr. Gladys MacGarey is the author of A Well Lived Life: A 102-Year Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Any Age (2023).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
Ben Taub Hospital, located in the heart of Houston, Texas, is the city's largest hospital for those who cannot afford medical care. Texas, in turn, is the US state with the country's largest uninsured population. Amid chaotic emergency rooms and busy hospital wards serving the most financially and medically vulnerable people, Ricardo Nuila, MD finds meaning and beauty through stories he hears from his patients. In addition to his duties as a hospitalist at Ben Taub Hospital, Dr. Nuila is an associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab, as well as an author whose writings have appeared in the Atlantic, the New Yorker, the New York Times Sunday Review, and more. His 2023 book, The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine, explores the ups and downs of American medicine through the lens of patients he has encountered at Ben Taub.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss what it's like to practice in a safety net hospital, the power of narrative medicine in connecting with patients, and how clinicians can hold onto their strength of character, even when working in a system that often feels broken and indifferent to human suffering.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:25 - How Dr. Nuila became drawn to both medicine and creative writing
6:07 - The characteristics that define different types of hospitals
12:06 - A patient story that exemplifies the experience of being a doctor at a public safety net hospital
20:33 - How Dr. Nuila finds deeper meaning in providing care, even when faced with systemic circumstances that a doctor can’t fix
25:34 - Dr. Nuila’s advice for how to get through the moments when you feel like you are “at war” with gaps in the system
42:32 - How narrative medicine and storytelling can make more effective clinicians
45:45 - Dr. Nuila’s advice on how to make a career in medicine meaningful
Dr. Ricardo Nuila can be found on Twitter/X at @Riconuila.
Dr. Nuila is the author of The People’s Hospital (2023).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
As an English professor at Yale University, essayist and literary critic William Deresiewicz observed a trend across American higher education that troubled him deeply. Instead of learning to think independently, critically, creatively, and courageously, students were increasingly subscribing to a mode of careerism, credentialism, and conformism that focused on climbing the academic or professional ladder.
So what is the value of higher education? As Deresiewicz writes in his 2014 book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, colleges, first and foremost, are supposed to teach you to think, to help you develop a habit of skepticism and the capacity to put it into practice. More than that, college is where you build a soul — your moral, intellectual, sensual, emotional self, through exposure to books, ideas, works of art, and pressures of the minds around you that are looking for their own answers to the big questions. Questions of love, family, God, mortality, time, truth, dignity, and the human experience.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the search for a meaningful life, the worth of a liberal education, the role of mentorship, the relationship between solitude and leadership, what it means to cultivate moral imagination, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
3:00 - Deresiewicz’ approach to teaching during his years as a college professor
6:25 - The reason why parents are not ideally positioned to guide their children through questions of what they want to do with their lives
8:02 - What Deresiewicz believes is the purpose of higher education
10:50 - What it means to “shape the soul” of students
17:12 - What we miss when we take a scientistic view of the world
20:45 - The challenge of establishing normative values in society, and why a “moral education” should be prioritized instead
28:25 - The search for individualism among students today
30:55 - What true leadership looks like and why people in powerful positions in our society do not often exhibit these traits
40:28 - What does it mean to have a sense of purpose?
43:00 - How young people can work to develop their sense of a calling or purpose
William Deresiewicz is the author of four books, including A Jane Austen Education (2011), Excellent Sheep(2014), The Death of the Artist (2020), and The End of Solitude (2022), as well as multiple essays, including Solitude and Leadership (2010) and The Disadvantages of an Elite Education (2008).
William Deresiewicz can be found on Twitter/X at @Wderesiewicz.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
What happens to the mortality rates of cardiac arrest patients on days when there is a marathon happening in the city? What happens to surgical complication rates when it's the surgeon's birthday? Why do patients of younger doctors seem to have better health outcomes?
These and other quirky questions are what preoccupy health economist, Anupam Jena, MD, PhD. Dr. Jena is a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, host of the popular Freakonomics, MD podcast, and, together with Dr. Christopher Worsham, co-author of the 2023 book Random Acts of Medicine.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the often-unintuitive role that random chance plays in our health outcomes, the hidden drivers of medical decision-making, misconceptions about physician burnout, and more. As we'll see, through tackling what can be amusing questions about why physicians and patients behave the way they do, Dr. Jena encourages us to reconsider our own ways of thinking and imagine how we can do better and be better.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:18 - The path that took Dr. Jena to the intersection of medicine and economics
8:54 - How Dr. Jena discovers topics for research
12:12 - Unexpected and important findings that Dr. Jena has learned over the course of his work
19:18 - Dr. Jena’s focus on “natural experiments”
22:02 - Thinking about physician burnout from an economist’s perspective
36:42 - The mission Dr Jena had when he set out to write Random Acts of Medicine
44:08 - Dr. Jena’s advice for medical trainees on how to understand the hidden forces of the medical system
Dr. Anupam Jena can be found on Twitter/X at @AnupamBJena.
Dr. Jena is the co-author of Random Acts of Medicine (2023) and the host of Freakonomics, MD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024
From ancient myths to science fiction, humans have long been fascinated by the idea of transcending the limits of our natural lifespan. But what does modern medicine say about the practical, actual possibilities of extending human life? Joining us to explore this tantalizing question is Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD, a neuroscientist and director of the Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience at Stanford University. While his research focuses on age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, his work has involved identifying the “biological age” of various organs and its implications on various diseases, and treating old animals with the blood of young animals to halt, and even reverse, aging of the body.
Over the course of our conversation, we not only discuss the mysterious mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, but also venture beyond the lab to explore the philosophical and ethical dimensions of life extension. We ask: how does our understanding of aging affect our perception of self and identity? Is aging a disease to be treated? What are our social and moral obligations when it comes to prolonging life or enhancing brain function? Is immortality even desirable?
In this episode, we discuss:
2:30 - How Dr. Wyss-Coray became drawn to neuroscience
4:45 - Defining neurodegeneration and aging
9:26 - The studies that led Dr. Wyss-Coray and his team to finding the gap between biological age and chronological age
21:06 - Is reversing the aging of an organism’s body a realistic goal?
28:31 - The possibilities and limits of treating neurodegenerative conditions
33:49 - Dr. Wyss-Coray’s groundbreaking work in treating old animals with the blood of young animals to reverse aging
38:51 - The philosophical and moral implications of life extension
48:57 - Dr. Wyss-Coray insight into the “secrets” behind some people’s longevity
Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray can be found on Twitter/X at @wysscoray.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Medical anthropology provides a lens through which we can view the intricate tapestry of human health, woven with the threads of cultural beliefs, social structures, and biological realities. Few have played a more significant role in creating this discipline than psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman, MD, whose early, extensive field work in Taiwan and China have shaped how we think about cross-cultural healthcare systems and their impacts on human suffering. Many of his books, including The Illness Narratives and Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture, have become seminal texts in medical anthropology. Dr. Kleiman is also a moral philosopher whose writings have explored the frailty of our existence and how uncertainty and crises sharpen our moral identities.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss Dr. Kleinman's bold explorations of human wellness across cultures, the search for meaning amid pain and suffering, the struggle to lead a moral life, and medical anthropology as a clarion call for a more nuanced and empathetic approach to health and healing.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:26 - Dr. Kleinman’s path to medicine
7:00 - How anthropology and psychiatry became central to Dr. Kleinman’s work
11:23 - The four core questions that define Dr. Kleinman’s decades of study
16:09 - How cultural definitions of a healthcare system greatly impact its effectiveness and reach
22:12 - Finding meaning in experiences of pain and sorrow
33:56 - An anthropological view of human existence, morality, and ethics
46:00 - The basis for Dr. Kleinman’s book The Soul of Care
47:51 - How Dr. Kleinman’s search for meaning shapes his approach to medicine
50:35 - The delineation between “morality” and “Morality”
57:40 - Connecting to our shared humanity by “doing” care
Dr. Kleinman has authored seven books, including his most recent, The Soul of Care.
In this episode, We share excerpts from: Dr. Kleinman’s book What Really Matters, Morten Lauridsen’s choral piece O Nata Lux, and Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Since childhood, Clancy Martin has been preoccupied with, and even addicted to, the idea of suicide. A survivor of more than ten suicide attempts. Clancy has spent his life wrestling with questions like: where do these impulses come from? Why am I haunted by them? Why do I feel so much guilt? Can I be helped?
Clancy is a professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri — Kansas City, where he teaches existentialism, moral psychology, philosophy of the mind, and ethics. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and the author of more than ten books, most recently 2023’s How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind, in which he chronicles his struggles with suffering, substance use, and an obsession with self-destruction. At the same time, the book is a prescription of hope and an eloquent reminder of the interconnectedness of our lives. These are the issues we grapple with in this episode.
Content warning: Due to the sensitive nature of the topic of suicide, this episode might be distressing for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, in the United States, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by texting or calling 988, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For our international listeners, please refer to local resources in your country for support.
In this episode, we discuss:
3:53 - The importance of “speaking honorably” about suicide and removing the taboo surrounding the topic
9:23 - Applying the biopsychosocial model of illness to suicide
13:29 - Clancy’s lifelong experience with suicidal ideation
22:58 - Moving past our tendency to see suicidal ideation as a personal sin or failure.
27:07 - Understanding the different reasons why a person would consider suicide
35:54 - In Clancy’s view, what lies on the other side when one moves beyond a suicidal mindset
44:42 - Clancy’s advice for how to cope if you are currently vulnerable to suicidal thoughts
Clancy Martin is the author of How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind (2023).
In this episode, We discuss Clancy’s 2018 essay, I’m Still Here.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
In recent years, loneliness has transformed from a private, personal experience into a full blown public health crisis. Studies have repeatedly shown that loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of premature death, dementia, and all sorts of mental illnesses. In this episode, Jeremy Noble, MD shares how he is combating our national crisis of loneliness by fostering connection through art and storytelling. Dr. Noble is the founder of the Foundation for Arts and Healing, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and the author of the 2023 book Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss Dr. Noble's unique path to arts and medicine, the three types of loneliness—social, emotional, and existential, what meaningful social connection looks like, and the healing power of creativity.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:08 - Dr. Nobel’s journey to becoming a “public health practitioner” and the personal meaning that the has found in his work
5:44 - The issues that Dr. Nobel is most interested in addressing within public health
7:03 - How Dr. Nobel found his way to the arts and humanities
14:21 - The benefits available at the intersection of the arts and medicine
16:09 - The mission of the Foundation for Art and Healing and Project UnLonely
22:26 - The definition of “loneliness” and the importance of loneliness literacy
24:19 - The “pyramid of vulnerability” for loneliness
27:10 - Evolutionary reasons for loneliness and how those are exacerbated today
34:19 - The three types of loneliness
38:20 - How we can cultivate a culture of connection in a society that has grown to distrust people and institutions
42:24 - What public health agencies should do to better prepare our society to reckon with loneliness
44:11 - The importance of addressing the loneliness inherent in medical training
Dr. Nobel is the author of Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection(2023).
Learn more about Project UnLonely and The Foundation for Art & Healing: www.artandhealing.org.
Dr. Nobel can be found on Twitter/X @JeremyNobel1.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
When Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD attended his first meeting at the American Medical Association (AMA) as a first year medical student, he was struck by the collaborative spirit he witnessed among physicians of all specialties from across the United States. But he was also filled with insecurity over whether he, as a gay man, would ever be truly accepted for who he was. 22 years later, Dr. Ehrenfeld is now the first openly gay president of the AMA. An anesthesiologist by training, he is also a senior associate dean and tenured professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
In this episode, Dr. Ehrenfeld shares his journey in medicine — from how he has channeled his experiences with discrimination, to becoming a leading advocate of health equity especially for LGBTQ individuals, to his time as a combat veteran in the Navy, to now leading one of the most influential medical organizations in America. Our conversation also ranges in topic from the future of medical education, to physician burnout, to the promises of digital health, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:18 - Dr. Ehrenfeld’s path to becoming an anesthesiologist
5:03 - How health equity came to the forefront of Dr. Ehrenfeld’s work and how it has taken center stage in his leadership at the AMA
11:57 - The role that the house of delegates plays within the AMA
13:37 - How Dr. Ehrenfeld represents the democratically determined positions of the AMA
17:03 - Dr. Ehrenfeld’s mission for his year as President of the AMA
19:26 - How the AMA invests its resources on tackling systemic issues that affect health
24:42 - Dr. Ehrenfeld’s perspectives on physician burnout
32:02 - How medical training needs to change in order to prepare for the dawning of AI
38:38 - Engaging with the politics of healthcare
41:45 - How the AMA is working to ensure that doctors can affect the future of medicine through programs including Health 2047 and the Physician Innovation Network
45:27 - Why Dr. Ehrenfeld believes that medicine is still a worthwhile calling
For more about the AMA, visit https://www.ama-assn.org/.
Follow Dr. Ehrenfeld on Twitter @DoctorJesseMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
"It's like having a backstage pass to the world."
That's how Stephen Fabes, MBChB describes his epic adventure exploring all six inhabited continents on a bicycle. Over the course of 6+ years, he cycled across 75 countries and 53,000 miles, discovering how human stories shape our conceptions of health and illness. Currently an acute medicine specialist at the Royal London Hospital, Dr. Fabes is also the author of the 2020 memoir Signs of Life: A Doctor's Journey to the Ends of the Earth. His writings have also appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, CNN, and the BBC.
In this episode, he joins us to share thrilling, thought-provoking, and amusing moments from his journey, what his travels through refugee camps and war-torn hospital wards have taught him about health care at the margins, and stories of everyday kindness that underscore our common humanity.
In this episode, we’ll discuss:
2:07 - Why Dr. Fabes decided to become a doctor
3:50 - The roots of Dr. Fabes’ sense of adventure
13:16 - How medical training differs in the UK and the US
14:34 - Dr. Fabes’ planning process for his 6+ year international bicycle journey
16:20 - A recap of the path that Dr. Fabes took on his 53,000 mile
21:15 - The most challenging aspects of Dr. Fabes’ journey and how they gave him the urge to visit medical projects on his travels
23:11 - How Dr. Fabes grappled with the moments when his health or life was in jeopardy
27:28 - Dr. Fabes’ takeaways from observing such a wide variety of international medical practices
32:38 - The challenges that arose as Dr. Fabes’ transitioned back to regular life after his trip
35:27 - How Dr. Fabes’ experiences have shaped how he now approaches medicine
36:42 - The importance of keeping an open mind in order to best meet your patients where they are
To learn more about Dr. Fabes’ book Signs of Life: A Doctor’s Journey to the Ends of the Earth and his work, visit https://stephenfabes.com/
Follow Dr. Fabes on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/DrStephenFabes.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
It's been less than a year since ChatGPT was released in November 2022, but in that time, reports have emerged of ChatGPT outperforming physicians in everything from clinical reasoning to documentation and even to empathetic communication with patients. How are we to make sense of the role of clinicians when artificial intelligence and digital health technologies seem to be advancing at a pace beyond our reach?
Here to discuss this is Jag Singh, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and former Clinical Director of Cardiology and Founding Director of the Resynchronization and Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of the 2023 book Future Care: Sensors, Artificial Intelligence and the Reinvention of Medicine.Over the course of our conversation, we discuss how digital tools can make healthcare more human-centered, how we validate the effectiveness of these tools, what we can do to prevent the profit motive from corrupting their implementation, and the skills that clinicians need to cultivate in order to thrive in the future.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:21 - Why Dr. Singh chose the specialty of cardiology, and specifically electrophysiology
7:43 - Why Dr. Singh became interested in digital health
10:17 - How doctors know if remote monitoring and other digital interventions truly work in the interest of patients
15:57 - Dr. Singh’s concerns over the digitization of health
21:36 - How we can center digital health interventions on patients and what clinicians can do to be a part of the solution
34:54 - Whether or not academia is doing a good job of preparing future clinicians to work with digital tools
37:33 - How digital tools might change the role of the clinician
43:25 - The skills that clinicians will need to develop to better work alongside AI
59:25 - The values that clinicians will need to cultivate to work effectively in the digital future of health
Dr. Singh is the author of Future Care: Sensors, Artificial Intelligence, and the Reinvention of Medicine(2023).
You can follow Dr. Singh on Twitter at @jagsinghmd.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Imagine if, as a teenager, you were told that you would lose your vision over the course of a few decades. How would you approach your life, your world, and the people in it? Joining us to discuss these questions is writer Andrew Leland. Andrew has retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that affects the retina's ability to respond to light, leading to progressive irreversible vision loss. Andrew's works have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, and he is the author of a 2023 memoir titled The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. Over the course of our conversation, we explore the culture and language of blindness, what it's like to grieve the gradual loss of sight, how visual impairment changes the appreciation of beauty, how blind individuals can harness the full richness of the human senses, and more. Ultimately, Andrew's deeply personal stories and sharp insights remind us to see the dignity in those living with disabilities, both visible and invisible.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:16 - Andrew’s journey with vision loss starting from his teenage years
6:58 - The isolation of having a condition that most around you cannot experience or fully understand
11:56 - How blindness exists on a spectrum and in many varieties13:23 - The milestones of gradual blindness that Andrew encountered over the course of his life
16:49 - Andrew’s advice for how be tactful when interacting people with disabilities such as blindness
25:48 - Andrew’s reflections on the internal psychology of ableism
28:12 - How blindness has altered Andrew’s personal relationships
30:16 - How Andrew’s experiences as a sighted individual affects his current perceptions with low vision
32:57 - How Andrew’s loss of vision has shaped his relationship with his other senses and how visual impairment affects the appreciation of beauty
44:19 - Andrew’s advice to clinicians on how to best meet patients where they are with their disabilities
Learn more about Andrew and his work at https://www.andrewleland.org/.
Andrew is the author of the memoir The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight(2023).
In this episode, we discussed John Hull’s book Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness.
You can follow Andrew on Twitter/X @Quailty.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
For many people, the idea of politics in healthcare conjures up hyperpartisanship, where power and party loyalty trump public interest. But Joshua Sharfstein, MD is passionate about politics and health care because to him, these are opportunities to bring together wide-ranging expertise and navigate seemingly irreconcilable interests to implement changes that change the lives of millions. Dr. Sharfstein has led a career reflective of this passion. He has served as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health, the Principal Deputy Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, and the Commissioner of Health for Baltimore City, and is currently Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Sharfstein discusses why public health matters, how he handles partisanship in politics, and his career highs and lows and lessons learned on effective crisis management.
In this episode we discuss:
2:16 - How medicine and politics ended up being a twin focus of Dr. Sharfstein’s career
5:07 - The milestones of Dr. Sharfstein’s career in healthcare leadership
8:39 - Why healthcare arouses such intense partisan political feelings
13:51 - How public health’s messaging and communication must change in light of current advancements in information technology
18:42 - The formative public health crises that Dr. Sharfstein has dealt with throughout his career
26:33 - Ideas for strengthening the US’s weak public health system
29:28 - How COVID-19 revealed the flaws of our public health system
33:55 - Dr. Sharfstein’s advice for clinicians who are interested in working in public health
38:00 - Sustaining drive and momentum amid bureaucracy in public health
41:56 - A sampling of the unsafe products that Dr. Sharfstein has successfully gotten taken off of the market
Dr. Sharfstein is the author of The Public Health Crisis Survival Guide: Leadership and Management in Trying Times.
You can follow Dr. Joshua Sharfstein on Twitter @DrJoshS.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Addiction and substance use disorders have long been mired in misconception and stigma, seen as moral failings or a lack of willpower. But the reality is far more complex and nuanced. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Nzinga Harrison, a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist who is the co-founder of Eleanor Health, a tech-enabled provider of comprehensive and longitudinal care for substance use disorder and mental health. Dr. Harrison holds a faculty appointment at the Morehouse School of Medicine, previously served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and is the author of the upcoming book "Un-Addiction: Six Mind Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life". Over the course of our conversation, we discuss our rapidly evolving understanding of addiction as more akin to a chronic illness with heritable and environmentally shaped components, the omnipresence of addiction in modern society, and the centrality of finding life purpose in truly transformative health care.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:40 - Dr. Harrison’s early experiences — good and bad — with physicians and how they shaped her path to medicine
8:41 - What brought Dr. Harrison’s to a career in psychiatry
13:50 - How Dr. Harrison came to focus on the emerging subspecialty of addiction medicine
17:57 - The reckoning our society has gone through surrounding addiction in the face of the opioid epidemic
22:49 - The definition of addiction and its pervasiveness throughout our society
26:44 - How we can intervene in earlier stages of substance use disorders
31:23 - Approaches to speaking with patients about substance use without buying into the stigma
34:45 - A glimpse into Dr. Harrison’s upcoming book “Un-Addiction: Six Mind Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life”
39:17 - The most important question to address with a patient as they grapple with addiction in their lives
45:01 - The importance of valuing meaning and fullness over productivity in order to bring meaning back to medicine and to life
You can follow Dr. Harrison on Twitter @NzingaMD.
Visit Dr. Harrison’s website at: www.nzingaharrisonmd.com.
We want to take this opportunity to spotlight National Addiction Treatment Week from October 16th to the 22nd, 2023. This is a week for us all to learn more about addiction and evidence based approaches to care, and to tackle the stigma surrounding addiction within the medical community. To get involved, visit www.TreatAddictionSaveLives.org.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Moral imagination is the ability to transcend one's own immediate context and experiences to explore diverse moral perspectives and ethical scenarios. In medicine, where decisions can reverberate profoundly through a patient’s life, moral imagination allows us to navigate the ethical complexities of particular situations while honoring the dignity of others. But how can this capacity be developed? Can we actually teach moral imagination to clinicians? In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Lydia Dugdale, director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University, who has deeply explored these issues through her writings and research. She is the author of multiple books, most recently The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom, (2020). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Dugdale shares her efforts to nurture moral imagination in her students, the importance of acknowledging suffering not just between clinicians and patients, but also among clinicians themselves, what sustains her through the most challenging or mundane moments in medicine, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:31 - Dr. Dugdale’s calling to medicine
5:06 - How Dr. Dugdale became interested in clinical ethics
8:49 - Why it’s difficult to engage the spiritual side of medicine
16:18 - The importance of cultivating imagination, especially for physicians
21:44 - The place that higher education has (or doesn’t have) in shaping the “souls” of students
27:25 - The importance of creating space to reflect on the patient connection
36:14 - Dr. Dugdale’s advice for trainees and clinician on how they can better approach addressing suffering with patients
In this episode, we discussed Alan Deresiewicz book “Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life” (excerpt from which is published in The New Republic) as well as Steven Pinker’s response essay The Trouble with Harvard.
Dr. Dugdale is the author of The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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What is the intersection between psychotherapy and Buddhism? For decades, Mark Epstein, MD, a practicing Buddhist and psychiatrist, has deeply explored how Buddhist philosophy can be integrated into therapy to help patients heal from trauma. His key insight is that Buddhism grants us the wisdom to reshape our relationships with our personal stories, through which we conceptualize and contextualize our emotions and identities. Dr. Epstein is the author of Thoughts Without a Thinker, The Trauma of Everyday Life, Advice Not Given, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life, and other books. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Epstein shares how he discovered Buddhist meditative and mindfulness practices during his formative years, how he helps patients reframe their understanding of suffering, and what it's like to be allowed into the most vulnerable, intricate, and even spiritual spaces in the minds and hearts of other people.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:12 - Dr. Epstein’s reluctant path to medicine after growing up as the child of a doctor
10:08 - The lessons Buddhism has taught Dr. Esptein about himself and his relationships with others and the world
17:12 - Differences between “medical materialists” and “medical humanists”
19:33 - How Dr. Epstein’s humanistic views of medicine have affected his approach to treating patients
23:45 - An overview of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis
28:12 - How Dr. Epstein’s approach to working with patients differs from other psychiatrists due to Buddhist influences
36:54 - The extent to which Dr. Epstein’s patients are aware of the source of his approach and techniques
39:42 - How Dr. Epstein grapples with the high stakes involved when treating the mental suffering of his patients
46:12 - Dr. Epstein’s advice for medical students and clinicians on managing the mental distress of patients
Dr. Mark Epstein is the author of many books, including:
The Zen of Therapy (2022)
Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself (2018)
The Trauma of Everyday Life (2013)
Going On Being (2008)
Psychotherapy Without the Self,Open to Desire (2008)
Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart (1998)
Thoughts Without a Thinker(1995)
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
Despite advances in medicine, issues in women's health are still often mired in stigma, shame, misinformation, and disparities in access and societal standards. In this episode, we are joined by Jen Gunter, MD, who is perhaps the most well-known and outspoken gynecologist in the world. She has made it her life's work to dispel potentially dangerous myths about women's health and, more broadly, the wellness industry. Dr. Gunter is the author of The Preemie Primer, The Vagina Bible, Menopause Manifesto, and the upcoming book Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation. She is also a columnist on women's health at the New York Times and the host of the podcast Body Stuff. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss her work as an early pioneer in chronic pain medicine and vulvovaginal disorders, how experiencing a challenging childbirth led her to write her first book, the various spars she's had with celebrities over medical misinformation, the importance of discussing uncomfortable topics such as sex with patients candidly, and how she builds trust with her patients.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:20 - An early accident that led Dr. Gunter to pursue a career in medicine
5:02 - Dr. Gunter’s experience as a woman in medicine
8:13 - What led Dr. Gunter to specialize in the intersection of pain medicine and women’s health
11:37 - How Dr. Gunter validates her patient’s experiences
16:19 - The unique ways in which OB/GYNs are “fluent” in both medical and surgical management
21:24 - The very challenging childbirth experience that led Dr. Gunter to write her first book, The Preemie Primer
26:38 - The ways in which doctors need to strive to do a better job communicating medical information with patients
31:07 - The growth of Dr. Gunter’s media presence since she began sharing her writing publicly in the early days of Twitter
36:34 - How coming of age as a doctor during the early years of the HIV epidemic made Dr. Gunter committed to normalizing conversations about sex with patients
41:18 - Dr. Gunter’s advice for dealing with misinformation on a daily basis
Follow Dr. Gunter on Twitter/X @DrJenGunter.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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In many ways, emergency rooms are the frontlines of health care, serving as the initial point of contact for people experiencing sudden and severe health problems or accidents. In other ways, emergency rooms are the last line of defense, serving as a critical catch-all for vulnerable populations who have nowhere else to go. How can doctors reconcile the tension between the desire to help others with the frustrating inability to address the many systemic causes of health problems encountered in the ER—homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, substance use disorder, and more? Here to explore this question is Michele Harper, MD, an emergency room physician and New York Times bestselling author of the memoir The Beauty in Breaking, in which she shares her journey from an abusive childhood home to working in busy ERs. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Harper discusses the unique challenges she faces as a black female doctor, how healing from her own trauma was key to connecting with her patients, and how the issues she encounters in the ER are a reflection of broader societal ills.
As a content warning, this episode contains discussions of domestic violence and sexual assault, which may be uncomfortable for those who have experienced trauma or are otherwise sensitive to these topics.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:42 - How Dr. Harper’s experiences growing up in an abusive household drew her to a career in emergency medicine
12:40 - The limitations ER doctors face in managing the underlying causes of the health problems they encounter
17:38 - The importance of fighting for health equity and what that entails
27:41 - What the individual clinician can do to advance health equity in the US
31:44 - Contending with the reality of race- and gender-based discrimination within hospital systems
38:58 - Connecting with your “calling” when making career decisions
44:23 - The importance of healing yourself in order to better show up for your patients
In this episode, we discussed Thich Nhat Hanh’s Living Buddha, Living Christ.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When we gaze at the stars and wonder at our place amid the expanse of the universe, or when we witness the birth of a child and marvel at the miracle of existence itself, or when we listen to music that seems to touch our soul — there are moments in life when we feel a transcendent connection to things larger than ourselves. But how are we to make sense of these experiences in the age of science? In perhaps our most meditative episode yet, we speak with Alan Lightman, PhD, a theoretical physicist and humanist who holds a unique vantage point on topics fundamental to our existence: time, space, matter, and human consciousness. Dr. Lightman is Professor of the Practice of the Humanities at MIT, the author of numerous novels and books on science and philosophy, and the creator and subject of the 2023 PBS documentary series Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss where our sense of awe comes from, the role of spirituality in a materialist world, whether or not human consciousness will ever be understood on a physical basis, the interplay of faith and reason in modern scientific practice, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
3:58 - How Dr. Lightman found himself at the intersection of physics and creative writing
5:46 - The ways in which physics is the most “philosophical” science
9:13 - The definitions of ‘materialists’ and ‘vitalists’
11:56 - How Dr. Lightman conceptualizes his position as a ‘Spiritual Materialist’
16:07 - Contending with materialism despite awe-inspiring, transcendental experiences
22:30 - Whether or not Dr. Lightman considers himself a ‘reductionist’
25:28 - Where our sense of awe and appreciation of beauty comes from
32:17 - The role of faith in scientific pursuits
34:20 - Finding meaning in a materialist world
In this episode, we discuss Bertrand Russel’s Free Man’s Worship.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disease among young adults. It's a disease in which the body's immune system begins attacking the protective covering around nerve cells, leading to a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from vision problems to difficulty walking fatigue to dizziness to speech problems. Our guest on this episode, neurologist Dr. Stephen Hauser, has led research that has been key to developing our understanding of this disease, and his work has resulted in treatments that have helped hundreds of thousands of people. Dr. Hauser is a director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of the memoir The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries: the Education of a Doctor. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss not only his groundbreaking scientific work, but also reflect on how clinicians can help patients heal even when there are no medical therapies available, as well as how neurological disorders affect our sense of personhood and meaning in life.
In this episode, we discuss:
2:07 - The childhood experiences that drew Dr. Hauser to a career in medicine, and specifically to neurology
8:15 - The ways in which practicing medicine was “simpler” 50 years ago
9:53 - Why Dr. Hauser chose to focus his career on multiple sclerosis
13:58 - Advancements in multiple sclerosis treatment over the course of Dr. Hauser’s career
15:37 - The importance of developing deep relationships with patients, even when curative treatments don’t yet exist
19:45 - The unique challenge that arises when neurological diseases affect a person’s central identity
25:49 - The enduring power of love that transcends the loss of a patient’s cognitive identity
31:50 - The biggest lessons that Dr. Hauser have learned from his courageous patients
35:10 - Dr. Hauser’s perspective on “failure” when treating patients
39:30 - Dr. Hauser’s hopes for the next generation of doctor scientists
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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According to emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, "public health saved your life today, you just don't know it." Having been appointed the Baltimore City Health Commissioner at the age of 31, she certainly has the credentials and stories to illustrate this assertion. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health played a frequently misunderstood and under-appreciated role in our society, ranging from sanitation and immunization to mental health support and pollution control. In addition to her public health work, Dr. Wen is the author of the 2021 memoir Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. She is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, a medical analyst for CNN, professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, former president of Planned Parenthood, and in 2019 was named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People. In this episode, Dr. Wen not only unpacks what public health is, but also shares her challenging upbringing as a child of immigrants, how she became the health commissioner of a city she had not previously worked or lived in, lessons on decision making in a crisis, the importance of finding good mentors, and more.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- 2:08 - Dr. Wen’s childhood as an immigrant to the US and her early experiences as a patient
- 6:34 - Why Dr. Wen decided to train as an emergency medicine physician and how she got into public health
- 9:27 - The ways in which emergency medicine training prepared Dr. Wen for a career in public heath
- 13:34 - Dr. Wen’s objectives as she entered the role of Baltimore City Health Commissioner
- 17:05 - Balancing priorities when confronted with the complexities of public health
- 21:50 - Navigating public health policy within our challenging political climate
- 26:16 - The importance of telling success stories in public health to spread awareness of its importance
- 28:24 - Dr. Wen’s advice on what to look for in a good mentor
- 32:15 - What ties together the many experiences Dr. Wen has had throughout her career
Dr. Leana Wen is also the co-author of When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnosis and Unnecessary Tests(2014).
Follow Dr. Wen on Twitter @DrLeanaWen.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Storytelling is the oldest medical technology — so claims our guests on this episode, Laurel Braitman, PhD, an acclaimed author and Writer-in-Residence at Stanford School of Medicine. Laurel offers a uniquely qualified perspective on the matter, having grown up in a medical family and now mentoring clinicians everywhere to help them fulfill their writing goals. She received her doctorate in History and Anthropology of Science from MIT, and her most recent work is a 2023 memoir titled What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love. Over the course of our conversation, we explore the challenges Laurel has faced on her journey as an author, how creative writing can lead to better doctoring, and how we can find the courage to discover our own identities in the face of expectations others have of us.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What it means to be Writer-in-Residence at Stanford Medical School - 2:06
- Why physicians write and how storytelling can help clinicians - 6:42
- How Laurel’s writing career began and her advice for how to break into the writing world - 14:43
- What it's like to be in the medical field as an “embedded outsider” - 23:15
- Laurel’s most recent book What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love, which details her experience of growing up with parents with high expectations and struggling through the grief of her father’s death - 28:15
- The importance of carving out time to reflect on your journey and your ‘why’ in the medical profession - 36:54
- Laurel’s advice for healthcare professionals who want to take the first step towards writing - 44:55
All are welcome to join Laurel’s Writing Medicine workshops, a pay-what-you-can public resource for healthcare professionals. Visit www.LaurelBraitman.com or www.WritingMedicine.org for more details.
Laurel Braitman is the author of several books, articles, and essays. You can find more at her website www.LaurelBraitman.com
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When professor of English literature Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN decided to become an oncology nurse, she suddenly found herself juggling seemingly-impossible patient expectations. And when she later was diagnosed with breast cancer herself, she was forced to confront the paradoxes of a healthcare system that demands so much of its practitioners yet provides insufficient support for them. She recounts these revelations in her recent book, Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Theresa is also the author of several bestselling books detailing her experiences helping patients through some of the most devastating moments in their lives. Over the course of our conversation, Theresa shares her unusual journey to nursing, the daily struggles she encounters caring for the sickest patients in the hospital, and what her experiences as a cancer patient have taught her about finding solace in the midst of our imperfect healthcare system.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Theresa’s path from English professor to oncology nurse - 2:07
- What “whole person care” means to Theresa - 5:54
- A day in the life of an oncology nurse - 11:26
- How Theresa managed the emotional stress of working with seriously ill patients in such a prolonged and often intimate way - 18:47
- The high risk of moral injury in the nursing profession - 34:34
- Theresa’s experiences when the tables were turned and she became a cancer patient herself - 38:53
- Theresa’s practical advice for leading with kindness with patients - 44:43
Theresa Brown is the author of several books about her experiences in nursing, including:
The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives (2016) and Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between(2011).
You can follow Theresa Brown, RN on Twitter @TheresaBrown.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Despite the optimism of modern medicine promising ever more miraculous cures, there are inevitably moments in medicine that compel us to face the fact that not all problems can be fixed. Recognizing the boundaries of medicine and navigating the space between what can be done and what should be done for a patient requires a fundamental shift in mindset, one imbued with an understanding that sometimes acceptance is the most compassionate response. Our guest on this episode, palliative care physician Sunita Puri, MD, has dedicated her life to probing this delicate space, uncovering wisdom along the way on what it means to live and die with purpose and dignity. She is the author of the 2019 memoir That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, and her writings have often appeared in The New York Times. In this conversation, we explore how she discovered palliative medicine, the importance of language in medicine's most difficult moments, and how impermanence and grief help us make meaning out of a world that often seems chaotic and senseless.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Puri’s relationship with her parents drew her into medicine - 2:46
- The inspirational way that Dr. Puri’s physician mother connected with patients - 4:49
- Dr. Puri’s experiences entering the field of palliative care - 10:56
- Reflections on what Dr. Puri needed to “unlearn” over the course of her career as a physician - 15:36
- The recognition that not all diseases can be cured and not all problems can be fixed - 21:37
- Advice on how to engage patients and families when further curative medical interventions are futile - 32:29
- Dr. Puri’s experiences on helping other doctors through difficult moments - 38:56
- Why Dr. Puri writes and how she came to write her book That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour - 43:43
- Grief, empathy, and the sacred mission of medicine - 49:24
In addition to her memoir That Good Night, we also discussed her New York Times article "We Must Learn to Look at Grief Even When We Want to Run Away."
You can follow Dr. Sunita Puri on Twitter @SunitaPuriMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As a medical student, former college quarterback David Fajgenbaum, MD was at the peak of his health and physique when he suddenly came down with a mysterious disease that, within weeks, led to multiple organ system failure. Dr. Fajgenbaum found himself on the brink of death over and over again in the intensive care unit, at one point receiving his last rites, with all of his doctors baffled about the cause of his illness. When the culprit was eventually found to be Castleman Disease, a rare disease entity that to this day defies categorization, he took matters into his own hands, researching and testing treatments on himself before finally discovering his own cure. Today, Dr. Fajgenbaum is not only the co-founder of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, but is leading efforts to discover therapies for other rare diseases. He is the author of the 2019 memoir Chasing My Cure. In this riveting conversation, Dr. Fajgenbaum shares his incredible, inspiring story to turn hope into action.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the loss of his mother to cancer led Dr. Fajgenbaum to pursue a career in medicine - 2:13
- The rapid deterioration from peak physical health to multiple organ system failure that struck Dr. Fajgenbaum - 6:04
- Dr. Fajgenbaum reflects on the terror of his unknown affliction and how he maintained resilience - 12:59
- How a brief remission gave Dr. Fajgenbaum an opportunity to turn passive hope into action - 21:47
- How a relapse led to a series of experimental treatments and a realization that his cure might already exist - 24:47
- How deep research and self-experimentation led to a breakthrough - 36:42
- Dr. Fajgenbaum’s nonprofit Every Cure and its mission to discover new uses of existing drugs - 42:02
- How Dr. Fajgenbaum feels when he cares for patients in similar plights to his own prior - 47:03
- What clinicians can do to comfort patients even when treatment options are limited - 51:37
- Advice to clinicians and students who are interested in medical research - 53:25
- Lessons on presence and compassion that Dr. Fajgenbaum has learned from having been both physician and patient - 56:32
You can follow Dr. Fajgenbaum on Twitter @DavidFajgenbaum.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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According to our guest on this episode, Gail Gazelle, MD, there has never been a more difficult time to be a doctor. Whether or not you agree with this statement, it's true that clinicians today are expected to see more patients in less time than ever before, spend hours on the electronic medical record, and manage countless administrative and organizational pressures. Dr. Gazelle is a physician coach who specializes in helping doctors build resilience and confidence in order to overcome burnout and rediscover joy in medicine. She is the author of the book Mindful MD: Six Ways Mindfulness Restores Your Autonomy and Cures Healthcare Burnout. Over the course of our conversation, we discussed the psychological and organizational factors that contribute to burnout and what we can do to overcome them.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What drew Dr. Gazelle into medicine and what eventually led her away from clinical practice - 1:58
- The differences and similarities between coaching and therapy - 7:22
- How much of coaching is about helping people change the narratives of their lives - 9:45
- The kinds of people who seek Dr. Gazelle’s help - 14:18
- The increasing acceptance of coaching in the healthcare profession - 15:51
- The extent to which an individual clinician can address burnout - 24:49
- Reflections on how perfectionism creates overstressed physicians and how to change that - 34:04
- A discussion of Dr. Gizelle’s book Mindful MD and the six ways mindfulness can help physicians - 40:25
In this episode, we discussed the Atul Gawande's 2011 Harvard Medical School commencement address, titled Cowboys and Pit Crews, later published in the New Yorker. We also discuss the article Does Medicine Overemphasize IQ? by Ezekiel J. Emanuel & Emily Gudbranson, originally published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Gail Gazelle is the author of the book Mindful MD: Six Ways Mindfulness Restores your Autonomy and Cures Healthcare Burnout; you can download a free chapter at GailGazelle.com. She also authored the article The Slow Code: Should Anyone Rush to Its Defense? published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which we discussed in this episode.
You can follow Dr. Gazelle on Twitter @GailGazelleMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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"All dying is a spiritual process," says our guest on this episode, hospice chaplain Kerry Egan. By this, she means that each person's death is more than just a biological event; it's an opportunity to reflect on the culmination of our human experiences, the lessons we’ve learned, and the impact we've had on others. The recognition of our impermanence prompts us to grapple with questions of legacy and purpose, infusing our mortal existence with depth and significance. Over the course of our conversation, Kerry describes how she became a chaplain, how she supports patients and other clinicians through difficult times, and the process of reconciling the strength of the human spirit with the limitations of the body.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- An overview of hospice care and the role of the chaplain - 1:53
- The difference between hospital chaplaincy and hospice chaplaincy, and what led Kerry to this work - 7:15
- A discussion of the distinction between the person’s physical body and their intangible soul, consciousness, or spirit - 26:00
- How a chaplain offers spiritual counseling to clinicians in addition to patients - 32:51
- How years of being a chaplain has taught Kerry to love her own body - 34:20
- Why viewing the body as a machine and the physician as a mechanic leads to harm - 39:01
- Kerry’s advice to doctors for keeping compassion alive - 49:08
Kerry Egan is the author of On Living, a memoir about her experiences as a hospice chaplain.
You can follow Kerry Egan on Instagram @KerryEganWriter.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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A lung transplant—taking some or all of one person's lungs and putting them into someone else, giving the recipient years of additional life—sounds nothing short of miraculous. Today, over 2500 lung transplants are performed every year in the US. Still, it's among the most medically and ethically complex areas of medicine. Joining us in this episode is David Weill, MD, former director of the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Center at Stanford Health Care. He is also the author of Exhale: Hope, Healing, and a Life in Transplant. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the challenges of transplantation, including how we find suitable organs, transport them, and decide who gets them. Dr. Weill also shares the high-stakes human drama that accompanies each triumph and failure, why he eventually decided to leave the practice, and the importance of staying connected in the midst of suffering.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Weill’s early experienced inspired him to pursue a career as a transplant pulmonologist - 2:14
- What a lung transplant entails - 5:51
- The risks of lung transplantation - 8:31
- Stories of successful and unsuccessful transplantations - 11:50
- Challenges of navigating difficult conversations with patients awaiting transplant - 15:53
- A discussion of the organ transplant selection process - 25:24
- Dr. Weill’s reflections on his transition out of medical practice and what it was like to face burnout - 38:46
- Advice on staying balanced and connected with patients, colleagues, and loved whens when dealing with suffering - 45:20
Dr. Weill is the author of Exhale: Hope, Healing, and a Life in Transplant (2021).
You can follow Dr. David Weill on Twitter @DavidWeillMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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It’s no longer a surprise that the race and ethnicity of a patient influence their health outcomes. But back in the 1990s, when Dr. Lisa Cooper first documented and published findings that supported the role of patient race on the quality of physician-patient interactions, these were groundbreaking, even radical ideas. Today. Dr. Cooper, a physician and social epidemiologist, is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and a Bloomberg Distinguished professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has designed innovative approaches to improve physicians communication skills and the ability of healthcare organizations to address health disparities. She is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In this conversation, we discuss her international upbringing, implicit bias in medicine, what good physician-patient relationships look like, and how we can more effectively prepare doctors to create a more equitable future.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Cooper’s international upbringing and how an early understanding of privilege shaped her career path - 2:21
- How privilege can change based on community and culture, and how Dr. Cooper experienced this shift - 7:25
- The observations Dr. Cooper made early in her career that led her to study how race and class impacts health outcomes in America - 12:58
- Facing stereotypes in a culture that is not your culture of origin - 18:44
- How Dr. Cooper began her research on racial inequities in health and the findings from those initial studies - 26:48
- The unrecognized assumptions that doctors are taught to make when it comes to patient care - 32:56
- How physicians can learn to take better care of patients from all backgrounds - 38:36
- The current state of medical education around implicit bias training and racial disparities - 46:40
- Dr. Cooper’s advice to her younger self - 52:53
Dr. Cooper is the author of several highly-regarded medical research papers; in this episode we discussed Race, Gender, and Partnership in the Patient-Physician Relationship (1999), published by Journal of the American Medical Association.
You can follow Dr. Lisa Cooper on Twitter @LisaCooperMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Though often invisible in our society, studies have shown that more than seven out of ten people experience trauma at some point in their lives, whether it's physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or a life-threatening accident or illness. In this episode, we speak with Bessel van der Kolk, MD, a psychiatrist and pioneering researcher on post-traumatic stress. His 2014 book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, spent 27 weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. He's the past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss why Dr. van der Kolk began studying trauma, the role of non-pharmaceutical methods in treating post-traumatic stress, how health care providers can overcome the psychological and emotional burden of encountering stressful situations in their practice, and how we can get back in touch with the irreducible human dimensions of love, belonging, and meaning through creativity, fellowship, self-expression, and imagination.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Why Dr. van der Kolk finds trauma a fascinating area of study - 2:16
- How Dr. van der Kolk views the emotional burden he carries from helping patients - 3:47
- A discussion of empathy and sympathy, and how they impact physicians dealing with patient suffering on a daily basis - 7:53
- Self-compassion: what does it look like and how do you cultivate it? - 14:10
- A discussion of trauma how it manifests physically and mentally - 19:22
- The difference between the “top-down” and “bottom-up” paradigms of coping with trauma and stress - 29:31
- How the complexities of trauma have been oversimplified repeatedly throughout history - 32:06
- Advice on cultivating a compassionate and sympathetic mindset for new physicians - 41:36
- How medical practitioners can safely process the trauma of medical training - 47:38
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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We live in a culture that vilifies stress. Stress, we are told, is unhealthy both physiologically and emotionally, and something to be avoided at all costs. But Stanford University health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, PhD believes that by suppressing or ignoring it, we're missing out on the benefits of effective stress management. Kelly is also a bestselling author whose work focuses on the mind-body connection and the psychology of compassion and mindfulness. In this episode, Kelly shares the personal experiences that led her to this work, the myths and misconceptions surrounding stress, the role of physical movement in promoting our wellbeing, and how even busy physicians can find space for self-compassion.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- The early life experiences that led Kelly into a career in psychology - 1:55
- What health psychology is - 3:50
- How physical health impacts mental and emotional wellbeing - 6:13
- Why many physicians find it difficult to maintain physical health - 11:58
- The behaviors that can make a big difference in one’s physical and mental wellbeing - 15:06
- How Kelly helps physicians provide care to their patients while holding space for the exhaustion and frustration that can come with this work - 25:50
- Common misconceptions about stress - 38:39
- The importance of self-compassion for those working in high-stakes fields like medicine - 43:00
- Advice to clinicians on better supporting patients going through stressful times - 55:48
Dr. McGonigal is the author of several books, including The Willpower Instinct (2012), The Upside of Stress (2015), and The Joy of Movement (2019).
Watch Dr. McGonigal’s popular TED talk on stress management.
You can follow Dr. McGonigal on Twitter @KellyMcGonigal.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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For over 50 years, the National Eye Institute (NEI) has been a driving force for cutting-edge vision research, education, and public health guidance. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Michael F. Chiang, Director of the National Eye Institute. A pediatric ophthalmologist by training, Dr. Chiang's work focuses on the application of biomedical informatics to ophthalmology, in areas ranging from telehealth to artificial intelligence to health data management. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Chiang describes the elegant intricacies of the human eye, shares what excites him most about digital health, discusses the urgent need for reformation in medical education, and shares his mission as the leader of the nation's foremost agency for promoting eye health.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Chiang’s upbringing in a family of engineers and eventual path found to ophthalmology - 2:22
- How the practice of ophthalmology is changing and the role of informatics in this change - 6:43
- What pediatric ophthalmology entails, and why this work inspires Dr. Chiang to this day - 10:39
- The mechanical intricacies of the human eye - 14:20
- Dr. Chiang’s reflections on how his education in engineering shapes the way he practices medicine - 18:03
- The importance of patient stories and how modern clinical practice leaves little time for them - 22:55
- How artificial intelligence is changing medicine and what that means for the future role of doctors - 25:55
- What excites Dr. Chiang most about the future of medicine, and what concerns him the most - 33:40
- Dr. Chiang’s vision for the National Eye Institute - 44:10
- Advice to young clinicians on lifelong curiosity and adaptiveness - 46:04
In this episode, we discuss Marshall McLuhan’s aphorism “the medium is the message” and the subsequent work of Neil Postman on “medium as metaphor.”
You can follow Dr. Chiang on Twitter @NEIDirector.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Awe is a feeling we've all experienced but often struggle to articulate. Whether it's the sheer scale of a skyscraper, the infinite expanse of a starry night sky, or the miracle of childbirth, moments of awe can strike us at unexpected times, leaving us speechless, inspired, and even profoundly transformed. In this episode, we speak with Dacher Keltner, PhD, a psychologist at UC Berkeley, where he is the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and the host of The Science of Happiness podcast. Keltner is a leading researcher on human emotion whose work focuses on the socio-biological origins and effects of compassion, beauty, power, morality, love, and social class. His most recent book is AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. In this episode, we discuss the eight sources of wonder in life, how we can nurture an openness to experiencing awe, and how this openness can help us navigate grief, uncertainty, loneliness and mortality, ultimately allowing us to lead more meaningful lives.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How growing up in a family of artists and humanists led Dr. Keltner to psychology - 2:26
- What the scientific study of emotions looks like - 4:54
- How scientists grapple with the difficulty of defining and studying emotions and feelings - 8:20
- A discussion of Jonathan Haidt’s revolutionary study of morality, The Righteous Mind - 11:57
- How Dr. Keltner defines and studies awe and wonder - 14:39
- The Eight Wonders of Life - 27:31
- Awe, beauty, and the sublime - 36:16
- Reflections on how digital technologies have negatively impacted our ability to experience awe - 38:35
- Advice for how we can practice the experience of awe - 44:26
- How awe can help with human suffering and physician burnout - 46:39
Dr. Dacher Keltner is the author of many books, including AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence, and Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life.
In this episode, we discuss Bertrand Russel’s Power: A New Social Analysis, Paul Ekman’s work on emotions and facial expressions, William James’ What is an Emotion?, Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind, Richard Lazarus’ “core relational themes,” Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, Anna Lembke’s Dopamine Nation, and Jean Twenge’s work on social media and self-focus.
If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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First used in the context of Vietnam war veterans, the term "moral injury" refers to the psychosocial, behavioral, and spiritual distress that comes from perpetuating or witnessing events that contradict deeply held moral beliefs. In recent years, moral injury has increasingly been used to describe one of the main challenges clinicians face in modern medicine — the challenge of knowing what care patients need but being unable to provide it due to constraints beyond the clinicians control, such as limited time or misaligned financial structures. Even more than emotional exhaustion and detachment, moral injury leads to profound shame and guilt. One of the leading voices addressing moral injury among health care workers is Dr. Wendy Dean, a psychiatrist who has written widely on the issue, most recently in her book, If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why it's so Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First. In this episode, Dr. Dean shares her own winding journey from orthopedic surgery to general surgery and finally to psychiatry, discusses where moral injury comes from and what it looks like, and explores what clinicians can do to address it.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Dean’s early explorations in medicine - 2:35
- How Dr. Dean’s desire to become a surgeon was deterred by gender discrimination - 5:12
- What led Dr. Dean to psychiatry, and then eventually out of clinical medicine entirely - 13:22
- A discussion of what moral injury is and why Dr. Dean began to study it - 18:03
- Examples of how moral injuries occur in the day-to-day of medical practice - 24:19
- How physicians and hospital administrators can address moral injury, citing as an example the court case of Raymond Brovont M.D. vs EmCare Holdings Inc - 38:57
- Dr. Dean’s advice for how navigate and push back against seemingly insurmountable bureaucracy - 42:22
- Moral Injury in Healthcare, the non-profit Dr. Dean founded - 47:39
- What setting personal and professional boundaries looks like in medicine - 53:04
- Dr. Dean’s advice to students and clinicians about fighting burnout - 57:37
In this episode, we discuss Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character by Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD, and The Business of Health Care is Built on the Exploitation of Doctors and Nurses by Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD.
Dr. Wendy Dean is the cohost of the Moral Matters podcast.
You can follow Dr. Dean on Twitter @WDeanMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When COVID-19 rapidly emerged, the World Health Organization (WHO) was thrust into an unprecedented challenge. The global pandemic response was in disarray; health care resources were limited and inequitably distributed; and misinformation burgeoned. At the center of this maelstrom was Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, who served as the WHO’s first Chief Scientist, from 2019 until 2022. Dr. Swaminathan not only spearheaded efforts to disseminate the latest scientific findings about the coronavirus and vaccine development, but also became one of the major public faces of the WHO. In this episode, we discuss Dr. Swaminathan's formative years becoming a pediatrician in India, specializing in treating children with tuberculosis and HIV, as well as the challenges she faced as a leader at the WHO in a time of eroding public trust.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Swaminathan’s experiences training to become a doctor in India - 2:05
- How Dr. Swaminathan discovered the balance between her interests in clinical medicine and research - 6:00
- Dr. Swaminathan’s reflections on the challenges of caring for children with tuberculosis and HIV - 9:38
- A discussion of global research funding disparity - 14:08
- How Dr. Swaminathan joined the WHO and eventually came to fill such a critical leadership role there - 19:04
- Dr. Swaminathan’s recollections of the arrival of COVID-19 from her perspective as the WHO’s first Chief Scientist - 21:28
- Lessons learned in health communication from the pandemic - 27:46
- The experience of being a lightning rod for online harassment and misinformation - 35:07
- Dr. Swaminathan’s advice to new clinicians who are considering pursuing a career in global health - 39:25
You can follow Dr. Swaminathan on Twitter @DoctorSoumya.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Navigating the unforgiving hours and ethical challenges of medical training while holding onto humanism; the medical and cultural history of the human heart; the moving journey of a doctor as he wrestles with his duties as a son and caregiver for a father with dementia. These are just some of the diverse subject matters our guest in this episode, Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, has written about. Dr. Jauhar is the director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and a multiple-time bestselling author whose writings have also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. In the first half of our conversation, Dr. Jauhar shares his journey in medicine and struggles with burnout; while in the second half, we discuss his poignant experiences caring for his father, the subject of his most recent book, My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Jauhar’s immigrant parents influenced his choice to pursue a career in medicine - 2:02
- Dr. Jauhar’s reflections on the role of indecisiveness in shaping his path to cardiology - 4:49
- A discussion of a doctor’s struggle against a corporate medical system that inflicts moral injury on physicians - 12:51
- Dr. Jauhar’s advice to physicians on ameliorating moral injury - 18:54
- Reflections on how Alzheimer’s disease affects the patient’s family, and an overview of Dr. Jauhar’s recent book My Father’s Brain - 25:10
- A discussion of therapeutic deception, also known as validation therapy, in which caregivers and loved ones are encouraged to “play along” with the distorted reality of a patient with dementia - 36:43
- The conflicts between Dr. Jauhar and his siblings concerning end-of-life care for his father - 43:18
- How the medical system needs to changed so that more support is given to dementia patients and their families - 49:05
Dr. Sandeep Jauhar is the author of several best-selling nonfiction books: Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation, Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Doctor, Heart, A History, and My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's
Dr. Jauhar also responds to medical students and residents on his blog Advice on Your First Year.
You can follow Dr. Jauhar on Twitter @SJauhar.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has followed the lives of hundreds, and eventually thousands, of American adults, with the goal of discovering what enables people to live healthier, more meaningful lives. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Robert Waldinger, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the current director of the study. He is the author of the book The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Over the course of our conversation, we explore the origins and evolution of the study, what adult development actually means, whether happiness is a choice, how social media shapes our relationships, Dr. Waldinger's interests in Zen Buddhism, and the key to leading a fulfilling life.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What drew Dr. Waldinger to the field of psychiatry - 1:53
- Dr. Waldinger’s reflections on the work and daily practice of a psychiatrist - 3:31
- An overview of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest running scientific study on happiness - 6:54
- The medical and psychosocial concepts of “adult development” - 9:49
- The most important and surprising findings of the Study of Adult Development - 16:20
- Why relationships are critical to health and happiness - 23:07
- How social media distorts reality and why it can be quite harmful to mental health - 29:37
- Whether happiness is a choice - 34:48
- The impact of Zen Buddhism on Dr. Waldinger’s life and work - 43:55
- Dr. Waldinger’s advice to clinicians on leading fulfilling careers - 50:02
In this episode, we discuss the book Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Dr. Robert Waldinger is the author of The Good Life.
You can view Dr. Waldinger’s acclaimed TED Talk What Makes a Good Life.
You can follow Dr. Waldinger on Twitter @RobertWaldinger.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When we hear about people with cancer, the stories often end when the treatments end—either the battle has been won and the cancer cured, or in more tragic circumstances, the cancer takes the patient's life. But for patients who survive, that's not where the story ends. Cancer has fundamentally transformed their lives. How are they to make sense of the existentially threatening experience they have gone through? That's where cancer survivorship comes in. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Tara Sanft, director of the survivorship clinic at Yale Cancer Center, where she helps patients thrive after cancer. Dr. Sanft is also a breast oncologist and the Chief Patient Experience Officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital. In this episode, we discuss the importance of cancer survivorship, how Dr. Sanft navigates the emotional challenges of her work, and what all clinicians can do to better support patients through difficult times.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the death of a family member influenced Dr. Sanft’s decision to go into medicine - 2:04
- Why Dr. Sanft’s decided to focus on palliative care - 6:02
- Reflections on how communication and building relationships are key to palliative care - 14:20
- A discussion of cultivating sacred moments in medicine - 19:53
- The purpose of a cancer survivorship clinic - 26:02
- A discussion of the most challenging aspects of Dr. Sanft’s practice - 33:35
- How Dr. Sanft shoulders the emotional toll of her work - 36:30
- Dr. Sanft’s duties as the Chief Patient Experience Officer at her hospital - 40:25
- How to create culture change in medicine - 43:17
- Dr. Sanft’s advice to clinicians on how to better foster self-compassion and create effective healthcare teams - 48:18
You can follow Tara Sanft on Twitter @TaraSanftMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Sabbath is a day of rest during the week. Our guest in this episode, Judith Shulevitz, is a journalist and literary critic who has thought deeply about what the secular world can learn about meaningful rest from the practice of the Sabbath. In her book The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time, she explores how, despite our culture of workaholism, we can still discover the restorative joy of rest, reflection, and family. Shulevitz is also a regular contributor to the New York Times and the Atlantic, and is the chief science writer of the New Republic. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the origins of the Sabbath, the ideals this tradition can bring back for the individual and community, and how clinicians can create space for purposeful rest amid their busy lives.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What drew Shulevitz towards re-engaging with her Jewish faith as an adult - 2:50
- What observing the Sabbath looks like in a traditional Jewish household - 5:20
- An exploration of the idea of a “secular Sabbath” and what it could mean for the modern world - 10:33
- The relentless culture of medical residency training and the factors contributing to it - 13:00
- How medical training affects physicians’ sense of community - 36:37
- Shulevitz’ advice to those with very busy schedules on how to make space for purposeful rest in their lives - 38:52
- Reflections on the need for physicians to process the extremes of emotion and suffering they encounter - 47:36
- Why it is critical to be present in the real world during times of rest - 50:45
Judith Shulevitz is the author of The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time.
You can follow Judith Shulevitz on Twitter @JudithShulevitz.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
We are joined in this episode by Dr. Eric Reinhart, an anthropologist, psychoanalyst, and psychiatry resident at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. While Dr. Reinhart is the first resident-in-training we've had on this program, his path has been far from straightforward. Prior to residency, Dr. Reinhart conducted ethnographic work in Chicago's South Side, India, South Africa, and migrant communities in Southern Europe. Through this research, he addresses the multifaceted effects of poverty and social inequities on community health. In this conversation, we discuss how he applies his anthropology training to create culturally sensitive systemic changes and how healthcare providers can play a more active role in engaging with their communities.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How having a deaf brother led Dr. Reinhart to medicine - 1:54
- Dr. Reinhart’s observations of the disconnect between the ideals he heard in medical school and the reality of how profit-driven hospitals operate - 5:59
- Why Dr. Reinhart pursued a study in anthropology to learn how to address contemporary social ills - 12:46
- How a case study of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Russian prisons informed Dr. Reinhart’s evaluation of pandemics - 19:37
- What drew Dr. Reinhart to psychoanalysis and psychiatry, and how he applies them to his field studies - 26:41
- A discussion of the power structures inherent to medico-social field work and how to properly determine what a community needs - 32:04
- Advice on how doctors and medical trainees can become empowered to help change the systems they work in - 41:21
- How Dr. Reinhart hopes to apply his experiences to improve community-based care - 48:42
You can follow Dr. Eric Reinhart on Twitter @_Eric_Reinhart.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The wellness industry saturates our cultural consciousness, with juice cleanses, organic skincare, and spa retreats flooding our social media feeds. But what does this plethora of dazzling — and often-expensive — lifestyle products all amount to? Not much, argues Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a psychiatrist who specializes in women's mental health and clinical assistant professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. As she writes, "our understanding of self-care and wellness is incomplete at best and manipulative at worst. We cannot meditate our way out of a 40 hour workweek without childcare. These wellness products keep us looking outward, comparing ourselves with others or striving for perfection." She details her ideas for achieving true wellness in her recently released book, Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness. In this episode, Dr. Lakshmin joins us to discuss how she overcame her own struggles working in medicine and details practical strategies for real self-care, which, in her words, "isn't a thing to do or buy, but a way to be."
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Lakshmin’s rocky initial foray into medicine led her a career in psychiatry - 2:15
- Dr. Lakshmin’s disillusionment with medicine, her two years away from the profession, and what she learned from immersing herself in the wellness industry - 5:34
- Reflections on the state of the wellness industry - 10:42
- An overview of Dr. Lakshmin’s book Real Self-Care and what real self-care looks like - 15:52
- A deeper dive into the first principle of real self-care: boundary setting - 18:47
- A discussion of how the American healthcare system often exploits doctors and nurses - 24:25
- The second principle of real self-care: self-compassion - 32:08
- The third principle of real self-care: knowing your values - 38:44
- The fourth principle of real self-care: empower oneself to create change - 45:09
- Dr. Lakshmin’s advice on getting control of your self-care journey - 50:43
In this episode, we discussed the essay The Business of Healthcare Depends on Exploiting Doctors and Nurses by Dr. Danielle Ofri, published in the New York Times.
We also discussed Dr. Lakshmin’s article How Society Turned its Back on Mothers, published in the New York Times.
Dr. Pooja Lakshmin is the founder and CEO of GEMMA, a women’s mental healthcare education community focused on impact and equity.
You can follow Dr. Pooja Lakshmin on Twitter @PoojaLakshmin.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Approximately 1 in 700 babies in the United States are born with Down Syndrome. Yet, despite how common this condition is for people, we don’t often have the chance to hear their stories. In this episode, we are joined by Dashiell Meier, a young aspiring filmmaker and disability advocate who has Down Syndrome. Over the course of our conversation, we have the wonderful opportunity to explore how Dashiell sees the world as he reflects upon the stereotypes that society holds against people with disabilities, discusses what makes his favorite doctors stand out, shares his passion for storytelling, and offers advice to clinicians on how to better connect with patients who have disabilities.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dashiell currently helps Stanford medical students learn to communicate with patients with disabilities - 1:47
- Dashiell’s academic interests and career aspirations in the entertainment world - 3:22
- Dashiell’s interactions with doctors and what makes his favorites stand out - 5:22
- A discussion of the stereotypes that people with Down Syndrome face - 7:42
- What Dashiell wishes people knew about Down Syndrome - 11:00
- The movement for people with disabilities that Dashiell is spearheading, and what he hopes to achieve through it - 19:10
- Advice on building good relationships with people who have disabilities - 27:00
- The projects Dashiell intends to create as a filmmaker - 32:04
- How to develop greater empathy for people with disabilities - 34:46
- Advice to new clinicians and trainees on how best to interact with patients with disabilities - 37:10
You can follow Dashiell’s film and video projects on his YouTube channel. You can also follow him on Twitter @DashiellMeier.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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From Tanzania to India, from Tibet to Antarctica, Dr. Jonathan Reisman, our guest in this episode, has practiced medicine in truly diverse regions of the world. Dr. Reisman's talents and passions are unparalleled in their variety; he is, among many things, an emergency physician, naturalist, food writer, travel writer, and wilderness survival expert. He is the author of The Unseen Body, an exploration of the human anatomy through all of its miraculous, mundane, bizarre, and surprising parts, presented through the eyes of a lifelong adventurer. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Reisman shares his experiences traveling through the most remote areas of the world, what his voyages have taught him about health and illness, the impact of emerging digital technologies on the doctor-patient relationship, and much more.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How a love of the natural world led young Dr. Reisman to travel abroad and ultimately to the medical profession - 2:04
- Dr. Reisman’s early adventures studying sociology in the Russian Far East - 5:30
- The parallels between exploring the natural world and the human body - 9:26
- The puzzle-solving aspects of medicine and the impact of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence - 12:18
- Dr. Reisman’s reflects on his time practicing medicine in India, Tanzania, Nepal, and Antarctica, and the importance of the physical exam in these settings - 21:15
- The strengths and limitations of the physical exam, especially as they relate to the clinician-patient relationship - 31:53
- How artificial intelligence will complement human physicians in the future - 36:38
- What Dr. Reisman believes is critical to the future of medical education - 46:12
- Dr. Reisman’s advice to young clinicians on how to keep their curiosity alive - 55:10
Dr. Jonathan Reisman is the author of The Unseen Body: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of the Human Anatomy.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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For all the deeply rewarding moments medicine offers, it is also a profession often intensely challenging on both systemic and personal levels. Our guest in this episode is Dr. Caroline Elton, an occupational psychologist who has devoted her career to counseling doctors and medical trainees in the National Health Service and various medical schools in the UK. She is the author of Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors, which discusses the physical, mental, and emotional toll of medical training and practice. Among other issues, she writes about how doctors deal with guilt and shame, gender and racial discrimination in health care training, the erosion of the clinician-patient relationship in modern medicine, and how clinicians can build emotional resilience. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Elton shares what led her to this work, exposes the many shortcomings in how doctors are trained today, and explores how we can create a more humane path forward.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What led Dr. Elton to her unique work in counseling physicians - 2:04
- Reflections on both the compassion and the callousness Dr. Elton witnessed as she observed physicians (her patients) in their working environments - 10:01
- A review of medical training in the UK versus the US - 15:16
- A discussion of Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors and the concept of moral injury - 19:51
- The kinds of patients Dr. Elton sees in her present work - 25:00
- How institutional cultures can come to valorize toxic, brutal expectations placed on physicians - 27:03
- How Dr. Elton’s managed her first patient, a doctor who was planning on quitting medicine just weeks after beginning her postgraduate training - 32:49
- A discussion of how sexism and other forms of bigotry factors into burnout - 38:20
- Why the screening process for selecting future doctors should be improved - 43:37
- How a trainee can prepare themselves for the psychological demands of a medical career - 48:00
- Advice to administrators and executives of how best to serve the psychological demands of their medical workforce - 50:34
Dr. Caroline Elton is the author of Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The American Medical Association (AMA) is the largest professional association of physicians in the United States, comprising more than 270,000 clinicians across all medical specialties. It is involved in all aspects of American medicine, from establishing standards of care, to reforming medical education, to lobbying for health care policies. Our guest in this episode is Dr. Jack Resneck Jr., chair of the department of dermatology at the University of California San Francisco and the current president of the AMA. In this conversation, we explore Dr. Resneck's personal journey in medicine, how the AMA is addressing physician burnout, how the AMA is coming to terms with its own history with race relations, how digital health is transforming medicine, how health care reimbursement rates are determined, and how doctors can play a more active role in advocating for their own work.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Resneck’s early years as a self-described ‘policy nerd’ and growing up in a physician family - 2:10
- How Dr. Resneck first became involved with the AMA - 6:01
- A brief review of the history and mission of the AMA - 8:23
- A discussion of the epidemic of burnout and how the AMA is addressing it - 12:45
- A survey of the AMA’s current policy priorities - 23:42
- A conversation around the incentive discrepancies around primary care medicine and how the AMA’s Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) is addressing this - 29:26
- How artificial intelligence and other new technologies are shaping the future of medicine, and why physicians must take an active role in their development - 36:25
- Reflections on the history of the AMA’s race relations and what the modern medical establishment must do to remedy health discrepancies, including The AMA’s Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity - 47:15
- Dr. Resneck’s optimistic view of the future of the profession - 55:08
In this episode we discussed several reports and articles, including:
The Flexner Report, a 1910 survey of the medical profession that was used to standardize medical education.
How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession by Daniela Drake.
The Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a recently-passed legislation aimed at helping physicians.
Follow Dr. Resneck on Twitter @JackResneckMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Matters of faith and spirituality are seldom openly discussed in medicine. But for our guest in this episode, pediatric palliative care doctor Dr. Elisha Waldman, these issues are a daily fixture of his work. Dr. Waldman is former associate chief of the Division of Pediatric Palliative Care at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and former medical director of pediatric palliative care at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is the author of the memoir This Narrow Space, in which he describes his seven years working as a pediatric oncologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel, while grappling with the ethical and political complexities that came with treating his Muslim, Jewish, and Christian patients. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Waldman discusses his formative religious upbringing, delves deep into what it means to be present with patients in moments of suffering and existential anguish, and examines what his experiences have taught him about the enigmas of life, death, faith, and identity.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Waldman’s early interest in religious studies influenced his pursuit of a career caring for children with cancer - 2:12
- Dr. Waldman’s religious upbringing as the son of a conservative Jewish rabbi - 7:00
- A discussion of spiritual care in medicine and what it means to be a “spiritual generalist” versus a “spiritual specialist” - 13:49
- Reflections on what brought Dr. Waldman to Jerusalem and what it was like to practice medicine in such a diverse and politically complex city - 23:01
- How Dr. Waldman finds the emotional fortitude to continue giving care and comfort to children who are seriously ill - 26:11
- A discussion of powerful and beautiful moments in accompanying patients through suffering - 33:40
- How pain differs from suffering and what physicians can do once they recognize that difference - 48:13
- Dr. Waldman’s advice to young clinicians on being present and curious with patients - 57:25
Dr. Elisha Waldman is the author of This Narrow Space: A Pediatric Oncologist, His Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Patients, and a Hospital in Jerusalem.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is an independent organization that provides expert evidence-based guidance on issues of health, biomedical science, and health policy. Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, recognizing individuals who have shown exceptional professional achievement and commitment to service. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Victor Dzau, who has been president of the NAM since 2014. He previously served as President of the Duke University Health System, Chairman of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital of Harvard Medical School, and Chairman of Medicine at Stanford Health Care. As a leading scholar in cardiovascular medicine, his pioneering research laid the foundation for the development of blood pressure medications widely used today. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Dzau discusses his challenging upbringing as a refugee of the Chinese Civil War, describes his dedication to health equity and global health; explores the work of the NAM, and passionately shares why clinicians should be more involved in public discourse.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How growing up as a refugee of the Chinese Civil War shaped Dr. Dzau’s path and practice as a physician - 2:27
- How Dr. Dzau’s became a physician-scientist - 7:06
- The circumstances that led Dr. Dzau to take on issues of global health - 11:03
- Reflections on how Dr. Dzau stays in touch with the deeper meaning of medicine - 13:05
- A discussion of the values Dr. Dzau holds in his various roles - 17:41
- The difficulties Dr. Dzau faced during his education and career and how he recovered from burnout - 20:04
- A description of the purpose and mission of the National Academy of Medicine - 28:36
- How new members are elected to the NAM - 32:26
- A survey of the current issues the NAM focuses on and how Dr. Dzau thinks about the political dimensions of his work - 36:25
- The need for medical professionals to better communicate scientific facts with the broader public - 41:25
- Advice to early-career clinicians on leadership - 45:32
Dr. Dzau delivered the Boston University Class of 2020 Commencement Speech, in which he discussed his own experience of burnout.
You can follow Dr. Dzau on Twitter @VictorDzau.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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While this podcast has largely featured clinicians sharing the joy they have found in medicine, in this episode—breaking with tradition—we speak with a physician left disenchanted by her experiences working in medicine. Our guest is Dr. Arghavan Salles, a minimally-invasive and bariatric surgeon who conducts research on gender equity and implicit bias in medicine. At Stanford Hospital, she advises initiatives to promote physician well-being and diversity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her frontline experiences were featured in Newsweek, NBC, CBS, and other press outlets. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Salles shares fiercely honest accounts about the difficulties she has faced as an immigrant, minority, and woman in medicine. Her stories are by turns saddening, shocking, and amusing, but ultimately invoke us to reflect on the part we can all play to create a more just and inclusive path for current and future physicians.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Salles’ path to medicine and her regrets along the way - 2:11
- The social pressures within medicine to overlook the downsides and hardships of a medical career - 7:11
- Why Dr. Salles chose surgery as a specialty - 11:02
- How, upon accepting her first academic position , Dr. Salles found herself in an environment that did not adequately support her surgical practice and her research - 14:12
- The systemic and cultural factors that led to the lack of support Dr. Salles faced - 23:03
- Dr. Salles’ research on gender equity in medicine - 29:57
- A discussion of the challenges of life as an academic physician - 32:13
- How Dr. Salles made the decision to put herself over her career and leave her academic position - 36:47
- Why it can sometimes seem that hospitals are exploiting physicians - 41:12
- Advice on how institutions can better promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their culture - 47:32
Learn more about Dr. Salles’ work on her website and follow her on Twitter @Arghavan_Salles.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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In the first half of 2020, New York City quickly became the American epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 200,000 cases reported in the first few months. The city came to a standstill as thousands of people died alone in hospitals and bodies piled up in freezer trucks that could not transport them away fast enough. In August 2020, amid this cataclysm, Dr. Dave Chokshi assumed position as New York City's Health Commissioner and began the arduous task of repairing a broken city and restoring public trust among its residents. Prior to this work, Dr. Chokshi led the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation and was a White House Fellow at the US Department of Veterans Affairs. In this episode, Dr. Chokshi joins us to share the core values that drive his public health work and how he navigated the challenges of leading New York City through COVID-19.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Chokshi, early in his life, came to understand the association between health and opportunity - 3:52
- A discussion of how privilege impacts the opportunities available to individuals and how this recognition affects Dr. Chokshi’s medical work - 7:40
- How Hurricane Katrina revealed to Dr. Chokshi the flaws in our existing health systems - 15:48
- Dr. Chokshi’s involvement with Universities Allied for Essential Medicine - 19:34
- An account of Dr. Chokshi’s tenure as New York City Health Commissioner during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic - 24:31
- Dr. Chokshi’s principles of effective leadership - 32:31
- Reflections on the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and how indebted society is to nurses and hospital house staff - 37:15
- Dr. Chokshi’s personal philosophy on maintaining a balanced sense of humility - 53:48
- Five lessons for medical trainees and clinicians on staying connected to what makes medicine meaningful - 57:38
Dr. Chokshi briefly discussed his early work with the Committed Communities Development Trust in Mumbai, India.
You can follow Dr. Dave Chokshi on Twitter @DaveChokshi.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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In 2015, New York Times journalist John Leland set out to follow the lives of six people over the age of 85. What John learned shattered his preconceived notions about aging, loneliness, and loss. The resulting 2018 book, Happiness is a Choice You Make, became an international bestseller and delved into how these older individuals found wisdom and joy in the later stages of life. In this episode, John joins us to discuss the transformational exploration he undertook and lessons on living well he has discovered from this journey.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How a college music reviewer came to write for The New York Times - 1:41
- How John’s exploration of aging began when he was initially—reluctantly—assigned to write a series of articles on old age and retirement - 5:04
- Reflections on how John’s expectations of aging — including loss, sadness, loneliness — were transformed over the course of this writing project - 9:01
- How John discovers his interview subjects - 11:38
- A discussion of John’s book, Happiness is a Choice You Make, and the lessons he learned from his subjects -14:44
- Advice to young clinicians on finding moments of happiness in their careers - 26:19
- John’s surprising realization that elders are not “depressed all the time” - 33:53
- A discussion of John’s recent article, in which he was documents the last days of Shatzi Weisberger, a nurse and prominent death educator - 36:53
- Reflections on how John’s relationships with older adults have changed his perception of death - 40:07
- Advice to clinicians on how they can better help older patients connect with what makes their lives meaningful - 45:03
John Leland is the author of the book Happiness is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old.
He is also a staff writer at the New York Times. In this episode we discussed his articles How Loneliness is Damaging Our Health, and She Preached About Death Without Fear. Could She Practice it?
You can follow John Leland on Twitter @JohnLeland.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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One of medicine's thorniest ethical questions concerns the lengths to which a physician should go to ameliorate suffering, including the use of medical means to hasten death. Yet, particularly for those who care for patients with, or for those who live with, serious illness, this question is all but inevitable. In this episode, Dr. Stefanie Green, the current president of the Canadian Association of Medical Assistance in Dying Assessors and Providers, shares her experiences helping patients die and how she views this branch of medicine. Dr. Green has been at the forefront of the change in legal regulation and clinical practice around medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Canada. In her 2022 book, This is Assisted Dying, she shares the delicate, challenging, and humane moments she has witnessed while navigating this unique work.
Disclaimer: This episode does not advocate for or against medical assistance in dying. Rather, it seeks to understand why a clinician may choose to perform this work. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, please call or text 998 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Green transitioned from a career in maternity care to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) - 5:14
- A brief legal history of MAiD in Canada, beginning with Rodriguez v British Columbiaand including the sea change that came with Carter v. Canada- 6:39
- An overview of how MAiD works today in Canada - 12:14
- How MAiD works in the United States, specifically in California, and the role of prognosis in a patient’s eligibility for MAiD - 15:43
- Dr. Green’s reflections on how two decades working in maternity prepared her for MAiD - 20:45
- The specific process by which Dr. Green helps her patients die - 24:13
- The first patient encounter in which Dr. Green provided MAiD - 27:53
- Reflections on the frame of mind Dr. Green must adopt in order to perform this work - 35:04
- How Dr. Green processes the difficult emotions arising from her work - 43:22
- Dr. Green’s reflections on her role as a patient advocate when handling family conflicts at end of life - 47:50
- Advice for clinicians about connecting with patients through empathetic presence - 51:35
Dr. Stefanie Green is the author of This is Assisted Dying.
You can follow Dr. Stefanie Green on Twitter @DocSGreen.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023
What does it take to lead a health department with a budget of more than $50 billion, overseeing the health of nearly 20 million Americans? Here to tell us about that is Dr. Nirav R. Shah, who was the 15th New York State Commissioner of Health from 2011 to 2014. Today, Dr. Shah is a nationally recognized advocate of patient safety, health care innovation, and high-quality, low-cost care. He has variously served as Chief Operating Officer of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, Advisor to the CDC Director, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Health Improvement, and Senior Scholar at Stanford University's Clinical Excellence Research Center. In this episode, Dr. Shah joins us to share his philosophy of healthcare leadership and how meaningful relationships anchor his work.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Shah’s upbringing and the influence of Jainism steered him away from a lucrative career in finance and into medicine - 1:53
- Two patient stories in which seemingly simple mistakes led to moments of awakening for Dr. Shah in recognizing his purpose in medicine - 6:21
- A brief overview of Dr. Shah’s career path - 13:47
- Lessons on empathetic leadership that Dr. Shah picked up along the way - 19:21
- How forging strong relationships helped Dr. Shah find solutions on big issues during his time as New York State’s Health Commissioner - 21:57
- Dr. Shah’s current pursuits, including those focused on making a business case for supporting the unpaid caregivers of patients - 31:23
- Why transparency and bureaucratic structure are critical components of healthcare reform in the United States - 37:46
- Advice to clinicians on what makes effective leaders and collaborators, and how to find passion for meaningful projects - 41:43
Dr. Shah is a trustee of the John A. Hartford Foundation, a board member of STERIS, and an advisor to GSR Ventures.
You can follow Dr. Nirav R. Shah on Twitter @NiravRShah or on LinkedIn.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Storytelling, pain, rage, and cultural competency are just some of the themes we will explore in this episode. Our guest, Dr. Haider Warraich, grew up and went to medical school in Pakistan before completing residency at Harvard Medical School and fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Today, he is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the associate director of the Heart Failure Program at the VA Boston Health Care System. A prolific writer, he contributes regularly to the New York Times, Washington Post,and others. He is the author of three books on medicine for the general audience, most recently 2022’s The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain, which examines the nature of pain not only as a physical, but also a historical and cultural experience. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Warraich compares his medical experiences in Pakistan and in the US, discusses why he strives to incorporate palliative care into his cardiology work, and offers an impassioned critique of how modern medicine fails to address patients' suffering.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Warraich went from thinking of his medical training as an “arranged marriage” to loving the career - 2:10
- How Dr. Warraich stays connected to his patients and his work despite the intense pressure and responsibility he experiences on a daily basis - 7:03
- What drew Dr. Warraich to cardiology and end-of-life care - 13:22
- Dr. Warraich’s reflections on the gaps in the care of patients with heart disease and how he now strives to reform the practice of cardiology - 17:33
- A discussion of how the medical culture of Pakistan differs from the United States and how they can be shockingly similar - 22:06
- How Tom Brady, the football quarterback, inspires Dr. Warraich to stay connected to the emotional core of his practice - 28:49
- Why it’s important to stay in a field if you care about it, especially if you hope to change and improve it - 35:37
- Dr. Warraich’s reflections on the nature of pain and how he hopes to change our cultural conversation around it - 41:38
- How acute pain and chronic pain are very different processes and how we can address suffering as a subject and deeply personal experience - 45:17
You can follow Dr. Warraich on Twitter @haiderwarraich.
Dr. Haider Warraich is the author of several books, including The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain, Modern Death: How Medicine Changed the End of Life, andState of the Heart: Exploring the History, Science, and Future of Cardiac Disease.
In this episode, we discuss the article “At the Edge of the Inside” by David Brooks, for the New York Times, and the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, and feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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What if we could scientifically prove that compassion improves our well-being, our cognitive function, our longevity, and societal welfare? Here to explore these questions is our guest on this episode, Dr. James Doty, a neurosurgeon, inventor, entrepreneur and writer. As the founding director of Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, his academic focus is the neurobiological effects of meditation, compassion, and altruistic behavior. His bestselling 2017 memoir, Into the Magic Shop, details his path from a troubled childhood to becoming an internationally-renowned surgeon and philanthropist. He has served on the board of a number of nonprofit organizations, including as former Chairman of the Dalai Lama Foundation, and is on the International Advisory Board of the Council of the Parliament of the World's Religions. In this episode, we discuss his unlikely journey to medicine and the incredible insights on compassion he has collected over the years.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Doty’s difficult childhood experiences and how the kindness of strangers pulled him to medicine - 2:10
- How Dr. Doty dealt with the fish-out-of-water experiences in medical school - 11:00
- A discussion of negative self-talk and how to overcome it - 17:30
- How Dr. Doty went from developing a neuroscience center in impoverished Mississippi to establishing an altruism research lab at Stanford University - 20:19
- A discussion of the eponymous incident of Dr. Doty’s book Into the Magic Shop and how it profoundly shifted his view on compassion - 26:06
- A review of some of the exciting findings of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education - 32:36
- Reflections on how Dr. Doty practices compassion in his daily life - 38:29
- A brief discussion of the power of belief and how it shapes our reality - 44:00
- A discussion of how the dehumanizing bureaucracy and profiteering of the medical field is failing physicians - 49:55
Dr. James Doty is the author of the best-selling memoir Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart.
He is the senior editor of the Handbook of Compassion Science published by Oxford University.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Too often, modern medicine focuses on life-extending interventions for those nearing the end of life at the expense of quality of life. Our guest today, Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, argues we urgently need to rethink the emphasis of end-of-life care. She's the founder of the End Well Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to improve how doctors and patients approach issues of mortality, as well as an executive producer of the 2018 film End Game and a major funder of the 2016 film Extremis, two Academy Award-nominated short documentaries on end-of-life care. As a health communicator. Dr. Ungerleider is the host of the TED Health Podcast and has been featured as a medical expert on CNN, CBS, PBS, Fox News, and other news networks. In this episode, she discusses her journey in health care and shares her mission to transform the end of life experience of patients everywhere and make dying well a part of living well.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Ungerleider found her way to a career in health care and how she pushed through imposter syndrome while in medical school - 2:23
- Dr. Ungerleider’s formative experiences working with elderly patients in the ICU, leading her question the practices of modern medicine when dealing with seriously ill patients - 10:18
- How the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted public consciousness around death and dying - 15:30
- The origins of End Well, the conference and organization founded by Dr. Ungerleider and her colleagues in 2017 - 23:51
- What it would look like for there to be a shift in the cultural conversation around death and dying - 30:31
- A reflection on the risks of romanticizing the dying process - 36:54
- The recent cancer diagnosis in Dr. Ungerleider’s family and how this has propelled her to proactively manage her own risks - 43:49
- Advice for new clinicians on dealing with patient deaths - 48:49
Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is the author of “My Dad’s Terminal Cancer Diagnosis May Have Saved My Life” for Newsweek.
You can follow Dr. Ungerleider on Twitter @ShoshUMD
In this episode, we discussed The Good Place, an award-winning sitcom series about philosophy and the afterlife.
We discussed several articles and studies about whether physicians are more likely to choose to die at home than the general public. These articles include “How Doctors Die” by Ken Murray, “Association of Occupation as a Physician With Likelihood of Dying in a Hospital” by Blecker, Johnson, Altekruse, et al. and “Patients, and Doctors, Aren’t Dying at Home” by Dr. Danielle Ofri (our guest on episode 35).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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"Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most."So writes Frank Ostaseski, an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and pioneer in end-of-life care. Frank is the founder of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, the first Buddhist hospice in America. Over the course of his career, Frank has accompanied over 1000 people through the dying process; these experiences have taught him lessons on how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our most authentic selves. He describes these lessons in his bestselling 2017 book, The Five Invitations. In this episode, Frank joins us to share hard-earned wisdom from his unique life journey. Over the course of our deeply reflective and even meditative conversation, we discuss matters ranging from Japanese death poems, to Buddhist mindfulness practices, to what courage looks like in the face of death.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the AIDS crisis led to the founding of the Zen Hospice Project - 2:16
- What Frank’s work looks like on a daily basis - 3:52
- Frank’s role as an ‘interpreter’ between patients and doctors - 5:57
- How clinicians can develop their own rituals in the process of healing patients - 9:09
- How Frank makes sense of the grief and suffering he witnesses and, despite it all, keep his spirit balanced - 13:40
- How the tenets of Buddhism influenced care at the Zen Hospice Project - 25:58
- How progresses in modern medicine sometimes hinders us in our acceptance of the impermanence and inevitability of death - 33:56
- Lessons on love, mindfulness, and finding meaning from Frank’s stories of patients at the end of life - 38:20
- The Five Invitations and what they look like in practice - 45:20
Frank Ostaseski is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The ICU can be a traumatizing place for patients, who are frequently heavily sedated, rendered unable to speak by breathing tubes, isolated by family visit limitations, and sometimes even physically restrained. In fact, a significant proportion of patients discharged from the ICU later develop persistent cognitive impairments and physical disabilities. Over the past two decades, Dr. Wes Ely has worked to improve the care of patients in the ICU, leading landmark studies resulting in the development of delirium prevention protocols that are now adopted in ICUs everywhere. Today, Dr. Ely co-directs the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In this episode, Dr. Ely joins us to share his career-long fight to reform ICU medicine and to recount poignant stories that illuminate and elevate the humanity of patients amid the chaos of the ICU — and in the process discusses themes that seldom appear in contemporary medical discourse, such as love, beauty, and mercy.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Ely discovered medicine as a calling while growing up in rural Louisiana - 2:33
- How a fascination with cardiopulmonary physiology, combined with an interest in patient relationships, led Dr. Ely to critical care medicine - 4:27
- A discussion of how patients in ICUs can often be “de-humanized” - 6:31
- A story from early in Dr. Ely’s career that illustrates “malignant normality” — when treatment norms led to patient harm - 10:40
- A discussion of physician burnout and how the dehumanization of patients contributes to it - 13:27
- What Dr. Ely and his colleagues have learned through years of research about the harmful standard practices of ICU care - 18:53
- An explanation of the ABCDEF treatment bundle designed by Dr. Ely and his collaborators to improve outcomes of patients in the ICU patients - 24:04
- How Dr. Ely processes the guilt and shame he feels from the harm he inadvertently caused to patients early in his career - 29:37
- Reflections on how eye contact, physical touch, and openness of the heart are essential to good medicine - 36:03
- A discussion on how Dr. Ely’s spirituality has influenced his approach to patient care - 44:51
- What it means to provide healing when patients are facing serious illness, even at the end of life - 50:45
Dr. Wes Ely is the author of Every Deep-Drawn Breath, a chronicle of his experiences caring for ICU patients.
You can find out more about his work at ICUDelirium.org
Follow Dr. Ely on Twitter @WesElyMD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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A pivotal development in the history of cancer research was the discovery that cancers can arise from mutations in genes already present in normal, healthy cells. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Harold Varmus, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 with his colleague, J. Michael Bishop, for this discovery. Their work has enabled scientists to explore why certain cancers develop in the human body and how we can develop better cancer treatments that target these genetic mutations. In addition to his pioneering research, Dr. Varmus has served as Director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Scientific Advisor to the US Government, World Health Organization, and various other foundations and academic institutions. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Varmus describes his groundbreaking research, approach to institutional leadership, and his advocacy for the democratization of scientific knowledge through his role in the founding of PubMed Central and the Public Library of Science.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Varmus' broad educational interests led him to pursue a medical career - 2:56
- How working at the National Institutes of Health drove Dr. Varmus’s passion for research and the trailblazing path his career took - 8:48
- A summary of Dr. Varmus’s research on retroviral oncogenes, which led to major advancements in cancer diagnoses and treatments - 16:35
- How Dr. Varmus became involved in the politics of science after receiving a Nobel Prize - 27:13
- Dr. Varmus’ mission while he was Director of the National Institutes of Health and his perspectives on the elements of effective healthcare institutional leadership - 30:28
- A discussion of open access publishing, a mechanism of distributing the results of scientific research online for free - 32:37
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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For all the crucial work physicians do in the hospital, no one spends more time with hospitalized patients than nurses. This is especially true in the intensive care unit, where nurses serve as patients’ conduits with their medical team and perhaps even with the outside world. Joining us in this episode is Christin Thankachan, an ICU nurse at Stanford Health Care who cares for the most seriously ill cancer patients in the hospital. Over the course of our stirring conversation, we ask her to reflect on how she guides patients and their families, with a comforting and compassionate hand, through life’s darkest moments. In addition, Christin shares the unique challenges she has faced as a frontline worker during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how she has maintained hope and meaning through these trying times.
In this episode, you will hear about:
How Hurricane Sandy pushed Christin towards a career in nursing - 2:06
* The differences between a nurse’s responsibilities in an intensive care unit and a medical/surgical unit - 5:13
* What a typical day is like for an ICU nurse - 7:26
* How Christin finds the physical, emotional, and psychological stamina to care for some of the sickest patients in the hospital - 10:22
* The kinds of relationships Christin forms with her patients and how she strives to elevate the human connection - 13:49
* The importance Christin places on recognizing the fullness of the humanity within each patient - 21:16
* The power of hope for patients facing serious illnesses - 31:50
* What it was like to serve as a frontline worker in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic - 36:38
* Advice on how to stay connected to the most meaningful aspects of a healthcare profession, even in the darkest times - 40:47*
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Few would dispute that vision is just about our most important sense. At least from a neurophysiological perspective, more than half of the human brain is dedicated to processing vision. But it also enables us to meaningfully interact with the world and the people around us, and allows us to engage in many of the activities that bring us joy in life. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Michael Marmor, Professor Emeritus and former chair of ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine. In addition to his significant contributions to our understanding of diseases of the retina, Dr. Marmor is a patron of the arts who has published several books on vision and visual art. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the fascinating inner workings of eyesight, how art appreciation can help create better doctors, and how Dr. Marmor accompanies patients facing vision loss.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How a desire to “wear multiple hats” — researcher, surgeon, educator — led Dr. Marmor to ophthalmology - 2:04
- A brief exploration of the sense of sight - 4:01
- Dr. Marmor’s research on the retina and why he believes a thorough understanding of how diseases work is critical for physicians caring for patients - 8:07
- Why helping a patient understand their condition provides comfort, even with serious illnesses - 11:53
- Dr. Marmor’s passion for the fine arts and how his expertise in vision complemented this passion - 18:23
- What art appreciation can do for physicians and how it gives us new ways of thinking and seeing - 23:52
- How medical curricula can be improved to integrate the arts and humanities, and the importance of an emphasis on breadth in addition to technical depth - 33:06
- Why an appreciation for all kinds of art keeps us in touch with culture - 46:29
Dr. Marmor is the author of several books on art, including The Eye of the Artist (1996), Degas Through His Own Eyes: Visual Disability and the Late Style of Degas (2006), and The Artist’s Eyes (2009).
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When it comes to medical humanitarianism, there is no bigger name than Médecins Sans Frontières, also known by its acronym MSF and in English as Doctors Without Borders. MSF is renowned for its work in regions affected by armed conflict, endemic diseases, and natural disasters. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Christos Christou, a Greek surgeon who has served as the international president of MSF since 2019. As a field doctor, he has worked in South Sudan, Iraq, Cameroon, and various other conflict zones. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Christou takes us into the trenches of his medical work in caring for some of the most vulnerable people in the world, shares how he finds meaning and hope amid the depths of human suffering, and discusses the challenges to global health today.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the values of his self-described “rustic” childhood led Dr. Christou into medicine - 2:28
- How Dr. Christou’s time in university shaped his life philosophy - 3:27
- The history and mission of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders - 5:59
- What it is like to practice medicine in regions affected by armed conflict and natural disasters - 8:13
- Dr. Christou’s journey in MSF, from when he first heard of it to how he became its leader - 10:42
- Lessons learned on finding meaning in medicine in some of the most resource-limited settings - 13:41
- Dr. Christou’s stories of inspiring hope in patients even during incredibly challenging times - 16:19
- A discussion of the dangers faced by clinicians who work with MSF - 19:54
- The significance of bearing witness to suffering in giving a voice to vulnerable patients - 23:11
- A discussion of the major threats to global health today: climate change, epidemics, and war - 26:25
- Advice for new clinicians who wish to tackle issues in global health - 30:00
Follow Dr. Christos on Twitter @DrChristou.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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While digital technologies now permeate nearly every aspect of our lives, its application to improve medicine remains limited. Still, recent advances in artificial intelligence, telecommunications, and other technologies hold enormous potential to transform how healthcare is delivered. At the forefront of exploring this potential is Dr. Justin Norden, a physician and investor at the venture capital firm GSR Ventures, where he focuses on investments in digital health companies. With a background in computer science, Dr. Norden previously worked on the healthcare team at Apple and helped launch the Center for Digital Health at Stanford University. He joins us in conversation to discuss how he discovered investing and entrepreneurship as a way to tackle problems in medicine, clarify misconceptions about digital health and venture capital, and explore how technologies are shaping the future of medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- A brief introduction to venture capital - 1:48
- How Dr. Norden’s experiences during medical training led him explore entrepreneurship and healthcare investing - 3:22
- How Dr. Norden’s passion for computer science influenced his medical education - 7:30
- What it was like to leave a clinical career - 10:18
- The past and current state of technological advancement in medicine - 20:28
- Co-host Dr. Johnson’s concerns over the ways technology has, at times, impeded the delivery of health care - 28:38
- Dr. Norden’s vision for the ideal balance between humanism and technology in medicine - 34:31
- How Dr. Norden considers the reconciliation between the profit motive of companies and the preservation of what makes medicine meaningful - 38:28
- How Dr. Norden decides which digital health companies to invest in - 44:57
- Advice to young clinicians who are curious about healthcare innovation - 50:09
Follow Dr. Norden on Twitter @JustinNordenMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As one of the most prolific and acclaimed physician writers today, Dr. Danielle Ofri is the author of seven books on the intricacies of modern medical practice and the doctor-patient relationship. Her other writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, in addition to various leading medical journals. She is also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, a literary journal that publishes works focusing on the human body, illness, and health. In her writings, Dr. Ofri uses vivid narratives to shed light on the highs and lows of being a doctor. In this episode, she joins us to share her path to medicine, how doctors can mitigate the moral injury they experience in their work, and how storytelling can comfort us in times of suffering.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Ofri was initially drawn to internal medicine through the patient stories she encountered - 1:54
- A discussion of the tension between the business and art of medicine - 6:07
- Dr. Ofri’s advice on how clinicians can combat the moral corrosion that broken medical systems can induce - 11:29
- How Dr. Ofri’s medical residency during the AIDS epidemic led to her passion for writing - 16:33
- Dr. Ofri’s writing process - 23:30
- A discussion of the moral philosophy of medicine and why doctors do what they do - 27:09
- Dr. Ofri reflections on how her writing has impacted her clinical practice - 31:47
- The wisdom that physicians who encounter suffering every day can share with a world experiencing collective grief from the COVID-19 pandemic - 34:38
- A discussion of the emotional toll on clinicians of delivering bad news and confronting grief, and an exploration of guilt and shame - 42:25
- Dr. Ofri’s advice to clinicians on how to stay connected to meaning in medicine - 48:44
Dr. Danielle Ofri is the author of the following books on being a doctor:
Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue
What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine
When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear
Medicine in Translation
Intensive Care: A Doctor’s Journey
Incidental Findings
Follow Dr. Ofri on Twitter @DanielleOfri.
This episode included an excerpt from Jacqueline du Pré and Daniel Barenboim’s performance of the Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 by Johannes Brahms, recorded live in West Berlin in 1968.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified the five stages of dying in her book On Death and Dying. Her work has radically transformed the way we think and talk about grief and loss, giving us a shared vocabulary and understanding of a previously murky, yet universal, human experience. Towards the end of her life, Kübler-Ross worked closely with David Kessler, with whom she co-authored several books and formally adapted the stages of dying into the stages of grief. Today, David is the world’s foremost expert on grief and has taught health care workers, counselors, and first responders on facing death and loss. His writings and his website Grief.com have reached millions of people. In this episode, David joins us to share his personal experiences with loss and what his decades of helping those on the edge of death have taught him about finding meaning amid suffering, and happiness after tragedy.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Thanatology — the study of death and dying — and what drew David to this field - 2:10
- Kessler’s friendship with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the psychiatrist best known for developing the five stages of dying - 6:06
- How physicians are often ill-equipped to face death and how hey might better engage with dying patients - 11:22
- David’s advice to physicians on finding meaning amid loss and tragedy - 19:05
- A review of the five stages of dying/grief - 28:58
- On Meaning, the sixth stage of grief that David developed - 33:38
- How the pandemic saw a renewed interest in grief management, and how his interview with the Harvard Business Review entitled “The Discomfort You Are Feeling is Grief” went viral - 38:04
- How David manages the overwhelming sadness he sometimes experiences in his line of work - 43:54
- David’s advice to physicians on comforting grieving patients - 48:31
David Kessler is the author of several books, including The Needs of the Dyingand Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, as well as Life Lessons and On Grief and Grieving with Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, who is herself the noted author of On Death and Dying.
Follow David Kessler on Twitter @IamDavidKessler.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you know anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Advances in modern medicine mean a greater proportion of people today than ever before will live well into old age. Despite the seemingly encouraging trend, geriatrician Dr. Louise Aronson argues that we have made old age into a disease, a condition to be dreaded, denigrated, neglected, and denied. Dr. Aronson has made it her life's work to help us reimagine the rich possibilities of human longevity and of later life. Her bestselling book, Elderhood, was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. In this episode, Dr. Aronson explains what makes geriatrics a meaningful career for her, discusses the faults in our society’s conception of elderhood, and shares her humane and hopeful vision for the future of aging.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- An overview of what geriatrics entails - 1:47
- The need to recognize elderhood as distinct a life stage - 4:42
- Dr. Aronson’s reflections on what drew her into caring for older patients - 6:15
- The ways goals of care change in elderhood - 8:24
- Dr. Aronson’s approach to caring for her patients holistically - 13:27
- How physicians can change the “losers and winners” paradigm in healthcare - 17:34
- A discussion of structural and cultural ageism and the insidious ways it harms our society - 23:03
- How American culture and medicine elevates patient autonomy and how this can sometimes be harmful to older patients - 30:59
- A discussion of Dr. Aronson’s writing and what motivated her to become an author - 38:49
- How Dr. Aronson experienced and overcame burnout - 42:57
- Advice to new clinicians on how to connect with patients and create a more meaningful career path - 46:08
Dr. Aronson is the author of the nonfiction book Elderhood and the short story collection A History of the Present Illness, as well as several essays and articles on ageism and aging and a blog.
Follow Dr. Louise Arondson on Twitter @LouiseAronson, Instagram @LouiseAronsonSF, and LinkedIn.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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On June 28, 2022, we released an episode featuring Ellen Dunphy, a 35-year old patient with a terminal diagnosis of gastric cancer who had been under the care of co-host Dr. Tyler Johnson. Ellen passed away a week later. Accompanying every step on her cancer journey was her husband, Andy Clinnin. In this episode, Andy joins us to share his experiences as Ellen’s caregiver and primary source of emotional support. Over the course of our conversation, we explore Andy and Ellen’s relationship from its beginnings all the way to her final days and after. Andy’s reflections on these challenging moments, perhaps paradoxically, has much to teach us about what it looks like to courageously make the most of life, however much of it remains.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- A synopsis of how Ellen came to be in Dr. Johnson’s care - 1:03
- How Andy and Ellen met, and their relationship leading up to her diagnosis - 6:44
- Andy’s perspective on Ellen’s diagnosis - 10:15
- What it was like for Andy to learn about Ellen’s diagnosis and how he adjusted to being her caregiver - 16:26
- Andy’s reflections on the experience of having Dr. Johnson as Ellen’s oncologist - 21:39
- How Andy helped Ellen think through her priorities at the end-of-life - 27:15
- How being with his partner until the end has changed the way Andy sees life - 35:46
- How California’s End of Life Treatment Act allowed Ellen to control how her life story ended - 43:14
- Andy’s advice for other caregivers on how to best take care of themselves so they may best provide care to their loved ones - 51:33
Ellen Dunphy’s one-woman play “Imaginary Endings” about facing her cancer diagnosis can be viewed on YouTube.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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What should we do about the fact that a person's health is affected in large part by social factors beyond the confines of the hospital? For a long time, traditional health care institutions have been inadequate in answering this question. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Toyin Ajayi, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cityblock Health, a tech-driven health care provider for communities with complex health and social needs. With a focus on Medicaid and lower income Medicare beneficiaries, Cityblock Health has been widely recognized as an exemplar of a sustainable model of care delivery for marginalized populations. We are pleased to be joined by Dr. Ajayi to discuss Cityblock Health as well as her clinical work, which centers on patients with chronic complex and end-of-life needs.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Ajayi’s personal journey from growing up in Kenya to leading Cityblock Health - 1:57
- Why Dr. Ajayi chose to focus her career on patients with complex and chronic health needs - 4:11
- The social determinants of health and its impact on a patient’s ability to seek appropriate medical care - 5:21
- Dr. Ajayi’s story of a chronically-ill patient who appeared ‘difficult’ but in truth was suffering from social inequities that limited his access to health care - 10:35
- A discussion of Cityblock Health, the value-based healthcare provider that Dr. Ajayi co-founded to provide care to the Medicaid patient population - 18:07
- The stigmas around Medicaid patients and why Dr. Ajayi sees opportunities instead of barriers - 22:02
- An in-depth exploration of the services Cityblock Health provides - 27:00
- The challenges of the fee-for-service model of American healthcare, and how Cityblock seeks to address them - 32:36
- Dr. Ajayi’s advice to medical practitioners on how to build trust and rapport with their patients - 37:50
- The future of Cityblock Health and the health equity movement - 40:05
Follow Dr. Toyin Ajayi on Twitter @ToyinAjayiDoc and Cityblock Health @CityblockHealth
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The Human Genome Project was a 13 year long international effort to map and sequence all of the genes in the human genome. Leading this ambitious endeavor was Dr. Francis Collins, who was also Director of the National Institutes of Health from 2009 to 2021. His work has had a far-reaching impact on our understanding of diseases and the development of new therapies. In addition to being one of the foremost physician scientists of our time, Dr. Collins is also well known for his bold defense of his Christian faith and for his steadfast promotion of dialogue between science and religion. His book, The Language of God, was an international bestseller. In this episode, Dr. Collins joins us to share his remarkable path in medicine, the origins and evolution of his faith, and his perspectives on the moral mission of medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- A close personal look at Dr. Collins’ career, leading to his directorship of the Human Genome Project - 1:56
- The mission and implications of the Human Genome Project - 10:02
- The cultural upheaval that has occurred during Dr. Collins’ lifetime and the way popular culture tends to pit science and faith against each other - 15:25
- The origin of BioLogos and its mission to foster a community that strives to harmonize science and Christian faith - 24:47
- A brief discussion of Intelligent Design, a movement that aims to prove the existence of God through science, and how it differs from BioLogos - 28:26
- Dr. Collins’ reflections on the reconciliation between his faith in God and the human suffering he has witnessed throughout his career - 32:42
- Advice on finding meaning and fulfillment in both life and work, and how community can help combat burnout - 40:38
Dr. Francis Collins is the author of The Language of God and the founder Biologos.org.
Dr. Collins references The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewisas being particularly enlightening to his personal worldview
Dr. Collins was recently interviewed by Science.org about his time leading the National Institutes of Health
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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With around 63 million beneficiaries, Medicare is the single largest provider of health insurance in the United States, serving Americans aged 65 or older, as well as some younger patients who have certain disabilities. Directing this massive program is Dr. Meena Seshamani, an otolaryngologist and former Vice President of Clinical Care Transformation at MedStar Health, a large health care organization primarily operating in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. There, she led initiatives in palliative care, geriatrics, and community health. She has also served as Director of the Office of Health Reform at the US Department of Health and Human Services. In this episode, Dr. Seshamani discusses her path from surgeon to health policy leader, what draws her to caring for older adults, and her vision for a better, more sustainable health care of the future.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Seshamani’s enthusiasm for medicine at a young age and the diverse career trajectory that followed - 2:08
- A discussion of Dr. Seshamani’s past leadership roles, including those at the Office of Health Reform under the Obama administration and at MedStar Health - 6:27
- Balancing the need for clinicians to work collaboratively and the inclination of physicians to value autonomy - 10:20
- An explanation of Medicare’s role in the US healthcare ecosystem - 14:51
- What draws Dr. Seshamani to focus on the care of older adults - 17:39
- The crisis of burnout in the medical profession and Dr. Seshamani’s vision for how this can be addressed - 21:00
- The fee-for-service mechanism of healthcare reimbursement, accountable care relationships, and the value of preventative care - 25:33
- The pay disparity between specialists and primary care physicians, and the role Medicare can play - 30:40
- How the growing population of aging Americans impacts the future sustainability of the Medicare program - 38:41
- How Medicare is reforming its allocation of resources to promote health equity - 42:02
- Dr. Seshamani’s advice to students and clinicians on engaging in meaningful work as they advance in their careers - 48:24
In this episode, we discuss the speech “Cowboys and Pit Crews” by Atul Gawande, published in the New Yorker.
You can follow Dr. Seshamani on Twitter @DrMeenaSesh
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Pediatric neurosurgeons manage some of the most complex diseases in children, operating on the delicate and precious organ that makes us essentially human. Dr. Jay Wellons is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the author of All That Moves Us, a memoir that offers an intimate and gripping account of the triumphs, terrors, joys, and pathos he encounters on a daily basis. In this episode, Dr. Wellons joins us to discuss his path to neurosurgery by way of English literature and family medicine, his faith as an anchor amidst his challenging work, and reflections on what the human dramas involving the most vulnerable children he has cared for has taught him about resilience, courage, and grace under pressure.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- A discussion of the range of procedures pediatric neurosurgeons perform - 1:58
- How a fascination with neuroanatomy drew Dr. Wellons into neurosurgery, and how his literary studies have impacted his patient care - 3:58
- The origin of Dr. Wellons’ book All That Moves Us and his experiences with a personal health crisis - 8:59
- What it is like to operate on one of the most intricate and delicate parts of the human body - 18:00
- How Dr. Wellons deals with the weight of unsuccessful procedures, and how he carries on - 27:51
- Forming relationships with the families of very young and often very ill patients - 31:12
- A discussion of spiritual faith and its place in the life of a surgeon who sees so much tragedy - 35:27
- Dr. Wellons’ advice to students, trainees, and clinicians on how to stay connected and hopeful in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges - 40:52
Dr. Wellons is the author of a book All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience, as well as the article “How the Summer Camp Doctor Earned His Stripes ” for Garden & Gun magazine.
You can follow Dr. Jay Wellons on Twitter @JayWellons5
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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On New Year's Eve of 2020, at the age of 29, Katie Coleman was diagnosed with metastatic renal oncocytoma, a type of kidney cancer so rare that she is the only known case in the United States and one of only a handful around the world. The sheer uniqueness of her situation resulted in a prolonged course of prognostic and therapeutic uncertainty. Thanks to the work of oncologists at the National Cancer Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Katie is now in remission. Today, she is a patient advocate who passionately supports other patients through their cancer journeys. In this episode, Katie joins us to share her incredible story, her experiences with grief, uncertainty, and hope, and her lessons learned on finding joy and meaning in life.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Katie’s backstory and the events leading up to her diagnosis - 1:50
- The experience of being diagnosed with one of the rarest cancers in the world - 3:58
- How Katie’s oncologists discussed this unusual diagnosis with her - 10:42
- The experience of receiving treatment with the goal of prolonging life, rather than curing the disease - 13:06
- How co-host Dr. Tyler Johnson communicates issues of serious illness with his patients - 15:38
- How the uncertainty around a terminal cancer prognosis impacts the way patients approach living their lives - 22:21
- How Katie’s changing prognoses have altered her life plans - 28:53
- The wisdom on living well one gains from facing a life-limiting illness - 34:32
- Lessons on hope in the face of uncertainty - 39:55
- The various ways clinicians can open up and connect with their patients on a human level - 44:14
Katie’s story has been profiled by the National Cancer Institute, NBC News, and the Today Show.
You can follow Katie on Twitter @KayDAustin
Katie is also an active content creator and patient advocate on Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Technological advancements have enabled us to accomplish medical miracles through novel medical devices, algorithms, and digital tools. At the same time, the exponential entanglement of tech with healthcare has led many clinicians to feel disconnected from the human element of medicine. Here to discuss this conundrum is Dr. Bryant Lin, the director of Medicine and the Muse, the medical humanities program at Stanford Medical School, and a mechanical engineer by training who focuses on medical device development. Dr. Lin also conducts research in Asian population health and is the cofounder of Stanford’s Consultative Medicine Clinic, which evaluates patients with medical mysteries. In today’s episode, Dr. Lin shares his unique perspective at the crossroads of technology and the humanities, and discusses how storytelling can be a powerful instrument to keep physicians grounded in what truly matters for their patients.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How an early interest in engineering led Dr. Lin to medicine - 1:42
- A poignant letter Dr. Lin received from one of his long-term aging patients that reaffirms why his medical career is meaningful - 4:10
- A discussion of how medical bureaucratization has stolen away much of the human connection that underpins fulfilling medical work - 7:39
- How Medicine and the Muse, the medical humanities program at Stanford, helps clinicians connect with the meaning in medicine - 12:40
- What Dr. Lin hopes to achieve through teaching medical humanities to future clinicians - 25:45
- How storytelling helps healthcare providers better connect with their patients - 27:28
- How Dr. Lin integrates storytelling into medical device design, and why it is imperative to not allow technology to distance physicians from their patients - 31:24
Dr. Lin manages the forthcoming digital medical humanities newsletter Panacea Health.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Rana Awdish was on the last day of her critical care medicine training when her life changed forever. Seven months pregnant at the time, Dr. Awdish abruptly found herself in a life threatening crisis when a previously undiagnosed liver tumor suddenly ruptured. She was rushed to the ICU of her own hospital, where she came unimaginably close to death multiple times. Despite this tragic event, she survived thanks to the incredible work of her medical team. Today, Dr. Awdish is the author of the acclaimed memoir In Shock, which recounts her time as an ICU patient. She is also the Medical Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and Medical Director of Care Experience for the Henry Ford Health System. In this episode, she shares what she has learned from her experiences about compassion, hope, and improving empathetic communication in health care.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How a family ailment inspired Dr. Awdish to pursue a medical career - 2:10
- An riveting personal account of the catastrophic medical event that befell Dr. Awdish - 4:17
- A discussion of the learning curve in medicine and the need to create safe spaces for physicians to admit ignorance - 12:13
- The fascinating and unsettling experience of being a highly-trained physician and a critically-ill patient at the same time, and how this experience showed her the way our current medical culture disempowers patients - 15:17
- Dr. Awdish’s reflections on the antagonistic environment of her prolonged hospital stay - 20:19
- A discussion of hope, concept often misunderstood by physicians as running counter to realistic expectations - 27:37
- The intense and unexpected role of spirituality in Dr. Awdish’s critical care experience - 32:14
- Navigating the medical profession while confronting suffering and not burning out - 34:37
- A discussion of Dr. Awdish’s profound essay The Shape of the Shore about the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Detroit - 37:36
- Dr. Awdish’s advice to new physicians and students to help them stay connected to their work and to see the humanity in their patients - 44:33
Dr. Rana Awdish is the author of:
In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope, a memoir about the harrowing events discussed in this episode and the revelations she attained by going through them.
The Shape of the Shore, an essay about working in the ICU during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Johnson mentions the essay The Learning Curve by Dr. Atul Gawande
Follow Dr. Awdish on Twitter @RanaAwdish
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Imagine showing up for work every day for a year, knowing full well that each day you risk contracting a potentially devastating disease with unknown long-term consequences. That's exactly what Dr. Thomas Fisher went through, as he documents vividly in his recent book, The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago E.R., which delves into what it was like fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines in 2020. Dr. Fisher, an emergency physician at the University of Chicago Medical Center, former healthcare executive, and former White House Fellow, has dedicated his life to caring for his community, the black population of Chicago's South Side. In this episode, he recounts harrowing stories from the emergency room, gives an impassioned critique of a health care system with too little space for doctors to provide the care their patients need, and shares a renewed vision of healthcare as a foundation of social justice.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What motivated Dr. Fisher to write his book, The Emergency, a riveting first-hand account of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic - 2:09
- The uncertainty and terror physicians faced at very beginning of the pandemic - 5:29
- An intimate picture of how emergency physicians approached the first COVID-19 patients - 9:45
- How an upbringing in Chicago’s South Side propelled Dr. Fisher into a career in healthcare, and how the reality of inequitable systems has shaped his medical practice - 13:10
- A discussion of the concept of “heroism” in the context of frontline healthcare workers - 20:35
- How Dr. Fisher used letters addressed to patients as a narrative device in his book to explore social injustices that affect individual health - 30:50
- Dr. Fisher’s reflections on maintaining a connection to the meaning of his work despite the seemingly insurmountable systemic challenges that he recognizes - 35:57
- Practical advice for clinicians on making space for patient care within a rushed healthcare environment - 42:28
Dr. Fisher is the author of The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago E.R.
Follow Dr. Fisher on Twitter @TFisherMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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What is it like to comfort patients in the moments before they surrender consciousness to undergo surgery? What can the humanities teach us about being present for a patient when they are at their most vulnerable? As an anesthesiologist and founding director of Medicine and the Muse, Stanford Medicine’s health humanities program, Dr. Audrey Shafer has spent her career pondering and addressing these questions. In this episode, Dr. Shafer discusses how her exploits in the humanities have shaped her career in medicine, gives us an intimate and vivid picture of the vital work anesthesiologists do, and shares what her recent personal experiences with cancer have taught her about what it means to truly care for patients.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How growing up in an artistic household initially pushed Dr. Shafer away from the arts and toward a medical career - 1:51
- Why Dr. Shafer chose to become an anesthesiologist - 5:51
- Dr. Shader’s discovery of the medical humanities and how she would later create the first program of its type at Stanford Medicine - 8:57
- A discussion of what the medical humanities are and a defense of its value - 12:00
- Reflections on the profound privilege of being an anesthesiologist and a medical educator - 17:45
- A behind-the-scenes look at an anesthesiologist’s work - 25:02
- Dr. Shafer’s recent cancer diagnosis and her treatment journey - 34:29
- Advice for clinicians and medical students about seeing patients’ illnesses within the greater context of their lives - 41:15
Follow Dr. Shafer on Twitter @AudreyShafer.
You can peruse the Literature Arts & Medicine magazine here.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Born with hemophilia in a time before effective therapies existed and having experienced treatment complications including hepatitis C and HIV, Dr. Eric Winer spent much of his childhood and young adulthood in and out of the hospital. Today, he is the Director of Yale Cancer Center and President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the largest organization of clinicians caring for cancer patients. An internationally renowned expert in breast cancer, his research has immensely impacted how breast cancer is now treated. In this episode, Dr. Winer shares his path to oncology and his insights from being a lifelong patient on stigma, compassion, and empathy.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How growing up with hemophilia led Dr. Winer to the field of medicine - 1:50
- The patient that cemented Dr. Winer’s dedication to oncology as his life’s work - 7:55
- Dr. Winer’s reflections on how his experiences as a patient shape his work as a doctor - 12:52
- Facing the reality of caring for patients with terminal illness - 18:21
- How Dr. Winer grounds the care he provides in the humanism of each patient - 23:49
- Dr. Winer’s mission and vision as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology - 25:49
- How leading by example is critical to cultivating a strong, respectful, and collaborative institutional culture - 31:02
- Dr. Winer’s advice to medical students and new clinicians on maintaining a connection to meaningful work - 33:12
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Our modern world grants us unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli—not just drugs, but also food, news, shopping, sex, gaming, social media, gambling, and more. But psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke argues that this society-wide overindulgence in pleasure threatens to lead us to deeper pain. Dr. Lembke is the director of the Addiction Medicine Service at Stanford Medicine and is the author of two bestselling books, Dopamine Nation and Drug Dealer, MD. As one of the first doctors to sound the alarm on the opioid epidemic in America, she's an expert on the issue and has advised policymakers at the highest levels of government. In this episode, Dr. Lembke describes her work treating all kinds of addiction, discusses her deep concern with the overconsumption of pleasure in our culture, and shares what we can all do to renew meaning and connectedness in our lives through balancing pain and pleasure.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What first drew Dr. Lembke to a medical career and how she initially discovered psychiatry - 2:13
- Why Dr. Lembke dedicates herself to addiction medicine, and how her philosophy can help others find meaningful work - 9:16
- The historical shift, with the advent of the opioid epidemic, to understanding addiction as a medical condition instead of a moral or personal failing - 12:53
- Reframing addiction as a medical diagnosis and approaching patients facing addictive disorders with compassion - 17:58
- How flaws in contemporary medical practice and misaligned incentives for doctors contributed to the opioid crisis - 24:15
- A discussion of Dr. Lemke’s book Dopamine Nation, including how easy access to pleasure causes addictagenic responses in nearly every aspect of our lives - 29:32
- How humans can reconnect with meaning despite living in a culture that often substitutes meaning with cheap pleasure - 34:15
- Dr. Lembke’s advice to all clinicians for how to better connect with patients - 45:20
Tyler refers to the essay “I Used to be a Human Being” by Andrew Sullivan.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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What happens when miscommunication between a doctor and patient leads to intractable conflict? What happens when a patient requests an intervention a doctor does not feel ethically comfortable with? In the toughest of situations, doctors turn to the clinical ethicist for help. Dr. David Magnus, an internationally regarded leader in clinical ethics, is the director of the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Bioethics, and former president of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors. In this episode, Dr. Magnus shares lessons learned from the most ethically ambiguous scenarios he has managed, the importance of ethical thinking skills for all clinicians, and the difficulties inherent in clinician-patient communication.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What it’s like to be a clinical ethicist, handling the tough ethical questions doctors call on them to resolve - 5:05
- How an ethicist determines what is “right” in a given circumstance - 9:10
- How Dr. Magnus’ deals with patients who refuse to accept his recommendations for care - 11:33
- Dr. Magnus’s journey from professor of philosophy to leading thinker on medical ethics - 14:00
- How the intense specialization of modern medicine may be contributing to clinician burnout - 23:31
- How misinterpretation of language can be a major barrier to good health care - 32:25
- Why clinicians use “hedge language” and “shield attributions” and how they can dramatically alter a patient’s understanding of their situation - 40:46
- Dr. Magnus’s advice to new clinicians on cultivating skills in ethical thinking and responsible patient communication - 50:45
Learn more about the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities here.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, Dr. Robert Pearl was responsible for the work of 50,000 healthcare workers and the medical care of 5 million Americans through Kaiser Permanente hospitals across the country. A leading expert on healthcare management and strategy, Dr. Pearl is the author of two bestselling books, “Mistreated: Why We Think We’re Getting Good Healthcare–And Why We’re Usually Wrong” and “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients,” a regular contributor to Forbes, and the host of several popular medical podcasts. He is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, clinical professor at Stanford Medicine, and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this episode, Dr. Pearl shares his thoughts on why American healthcare is failing not only patients but also physicians, and what we can do to address inherent problems in the culture of medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Pearl’s journey to a career in plastic surgery - 2:13
- Grappling with complications that arise during surgery - 9:40
- Dr. Pearl’s transition from surgeon to CEO of the Permanente Medical Group - 12:49
- The mission that Dr. Pearl brought to his role as CEO and how he implemented that mission - 17:21
- How Dr. Pearl paved a path for increasing both the quality of care and physician satisfaction, while keeping costs low, and why so often these goals seem at odds with each other - 20:32
- The toxic culture of denial in medicine and why it is killing doctors and patients - 27:45
- How status and compensation disparity contributes to physician burnout, and what to do about it - 35:47
- Dr. Pearl’s administrative strategy that led Kaiser Permanente to much success during his tenure as CEO - 43:08
- Dr. Pearl’s advice to physicians on how to stay connected and empowered in their careers - 46:38
Dr. Robert Pearl is:
- Author of two books: Mistreated: Why We Think We’re Getting Good Healthcare - And Why We’re Usually Wrong; and Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients, with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders
- A frequent contributor to Forbes Magazine
- The host of two podcasts: Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth
Find more information at RobertPearlMD.com or follow Dr. Pearl on Twitter @RobertPearlMD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As the real-life inspiration for and medical consultant to the popular TV show "House, M.D.," journalist-turned-physician Dr. Lisa Sanders has played quite the role in elevating the prestige and drama of medical diagnosis. For the past 20 years, Dr. Sanders has written a column in the New York Times titled "Diagnosis," in which she discusses bizarre and fascinating medical cases. In 2019, this column was turned into a Netflix documentary series of the same name. She has garnered much acclaim for presenting the process of diagnosis as a detective story, rather than the rote recall of a set of facts and figures. Dr. Sanders joins us in this episode to speak about her remarkable career path, her work, and how storytelling contributes to patient healing.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Sanders’ career prior to medicine as a TV journalist and how it influenced her path as a physician - 1:59
- Dr. Sanders’ revelation about diagnosis as detective work and how she developed her passion for it - 4:59
- Being part of the handful of “weirdos” that Yale Medical School admits every year, and combating imposter syndrome - 7:14
- Dr. Sanders’ reflections on the how money-making impacts physician burnout and how the burden of choice in medical career paths may lead to a sense of disconnect - 12:39
- Medical diagnosis itself as a kind of healing, allowing patients to contextualize their circumstances within their personal narratives - 18:05
- Dr. Sanders’ best-practices on communicating with patients - 29:03
- The methodology of solving and describing medical mysteries - 32:10
- Challenges and opportunities in eliciting and listening to patient stories - 42:16
- Dr. Sanders’ hope that the human dimension of medicine does not get displaced by the technical dimension, and why storytelling is integral to patient healing - 46:41
Dr. Lisa Sanders is the author of several books, including
Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis (2009), and
Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries (2019)
She writes a column for the New York Times called Diagnosis, which can be found archived here
Follow Dr. Sanders on Twitter @LisaSandersmd
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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When actress and playwright Ellen Dunphy — then a robustly-healthy 33-year old — first met co-host Dr. Tyler Johnson in early 2020, they were filming an educational video teaching doctors how to discuss terminal illnesses with patients. Six months later, in a twist of fate, upon receiving a terminal diagnosis of gastric cancer, Ellen learned that Dr. Johnson would be her oncologist — for real this time. In this poignant episode, Ellen candidly shares her experiences from the moment she received her diagnosis to how she has subsequently grappled with grief, and discusses how this has fueled the creation of a play about her cancer journey. This is a rare occasion of conversation and reflection between a dying patient and her doctor on what matters most in medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- The circumstances that first brought Ellen and Dr. Johnson together - 1:38
- Ellen and Tyler’s second meeting, under drastically different yet parallel circumstances - 5:03
- What it was like for both Ellen and Dr. Johnson at the moment her diagnosis was delivered - 7:24
- What was surprising to Ellen about going through cancer treatment - 13:24
- Ellen’s advice to medical professionals in light of her own treatment journey - 16:40
- Ellen’s reflections on the process of writing her play about receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis - 21:12
- The meaning of medicine, as seen by Ellen - 27:45
- Ellen’s advice to all patients on the importance of advocating for oneself - 29:00
Ellen’s one-woman play “Imaginary Endings” about facing her cancer diagnosis can be viewed on YouTube.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Essayist Emily Maloney offers a wholly unique vantage point when it comes to American healthcare. At 19 years old, a suicide attempt landed Emily in the hospital for an extended stay, which then saddled her with a massive 5-figure load of unexpected medical bills. In an attempt to pay off her debt, Emily became an emergency room technician and began working in the very same system that was crippling her financial life. In today’s episode, Emily discusses her experiences as both patient and caregiver, and shares her insights on the true cost – financial and personal – that the flawed US medical system exerts on everyone involved, from patients to physicians.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Emily’s motivation for writing her recently published book of essays, “Cost of Living” - 2:33
- How finding herself in suffocating medical debt changed Emily’s life - 10:24
- Why the true costs of medical interventions are impossible to know under the current system - 18:20
- What drew Emily into the medical profession despite her negative experiences as a patient - 24:43
- Emily’s ideas on how healthcare in the US should be reformed - 37:28
Emily is the author of the essay collection “Cost of Living”
Follow Emily on Twitter @emilyfmaloney
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As the founding medical director of Palliative Care Services at Stanford Hospital, Dr. Stephanie Harman is no stranger to death and grief. In this episode, she shares the story of how she discovered palliative care through the death of someone close and what it looks like to transform what are often the moments of greatest patient suffering into moments of profound meaning and humanism. In addition to her palliative care work, Dr. Harman is a clinical associate professor of medicine, a co-chair of the Stanford Health Care Ethics Committee, and Associate Chair for the Women in Medicine initiative in Stanford’s Department of Medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How PBS, zebrafish, and comparative literature influenced Dr. Harman’s decision to enter medicine - 3:08
- How the death of someone close propelled Dr. Harman into palliative care and informs her philosophical focus on honoring a patient’s values and wishes - 8:09
- Why Dr. Harman felt drawn to a medical specialty that so often deals with the most painful part of medicine: witnessing patients dying - 15:53
- How Dr. Harman had to advocate for the legitimacy and dignity of palliative medicine, despite being told it was “a waste of her career” - 19:18
- How Dr. Harman processes the emotional weight of her chosen field with preventive and supportive measures - 22:20
- A discussion of how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced public and personal conversations about grief to the forefront - 27:24
- Dr. Harman’s vision for the future of medicine, and specifically the broader adoption of palliative care services - 33:33
- Dr. Harman’s advice to new medical professionals and students - 38:49
You can follow Dr. Harman on Twitter @Steph_HarmanMD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Victoria Sweet is a prize-winning author, medical historian, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of two bestselling books: God's Hotel, which details her time as a doctor in the last almshouse in the United States, and Slow Medicine, a memoir that outlines her approach to medicine as both a craft and art. In this episode, Dr. Sweet discusses why she reframes the doctor-patient relationship from one of a mechanic repairing a machine, to one of a gardener tending to her plants. Through vivid stories of her remarkable experiences, she illustrates how combining insights of premodern medicine with advances of modern health care can lead to better healing.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the writings of Carl Jung drew Dr. Sweet to medicine - 2:18
- How a nurse and a stubborn patient taught Dr. Sweet what it meant to be “a real doctor” - 9:36
- The origin of the Slow Medicine philosophy and how it shapes Dr. Sweet’s approach to patient care - 16:19
- The Philosophy of the Minimum and why examining side effects and placebo groups is critical to delivering the best patient care - 22:03
- Dr. Sweet’s time at Laguna Honda Hospital, the “last almshouse in the United States”, and what she learned about healing from the slower pace of that hospital - 27:07
- How the study of medieval figures like Hildegard of Bingen influenced Dr. Sweet’s appreciation for premodern medicine and her style of pairing it with modern medicine - 33:58
- Dr. Sweet’s advice for clinicians facing the mounting challenges of the modern corporate medical landscape - 40:02
Dr. Sweet is the author of God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine and Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing.
Dr. Sweet discusses the influence of Carl Jung’s memoir Memories, Dreams, and Reflections
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Pamela Kunz is the Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Yale Medicine. For 19 years, she was at Stanford University, most recently serving as Director of the Stanford Neuroendocrine Tumor Program. But in 2020, Dr. Kunz announced her departure, citing years of gender discrimination, microaggressions, and harassment. In this episode, Dr. Kunz opens up about the challenges she faced, how she overcame them, and how she now taps into a clear-eyed awareness of her values to lead health care settings that empower underrepresented individuals and to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Kunz’s science-filled childhood led her to a career in medicine, and why she took on the daunting task of treating cancer patients - 2:21
- What it is like to build relationships with patients who have life-limiting cancer diagnoses - 7:25
- Dr. Kunz’s past struggles working in a toxic environment due to constant disrespect and denigration based on her gender - 12:18
- How leadership coach Rebecca Merrill (our guest on Episode 7) helped Dr. Kunz realize why she was so unhappy in her work and what she could do about it - 16:15
- The development of Dr. Kunz as an advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medicine - 18:48
- Dr. Kunz’s advice for women and other underrepresented individuals going into medicine on preparing against potential hostility in their chosen careers, and how to create a “tapestry” of mentors - 22:01
- How Dr. Kunz addresses her own burnout, and how seeing oneself as an advocate can be a tool to self-empowerment - 32:25
- The advice Dr. Kunz would give to her past self if she could go back in time - 41:02
Dr. Kunz mentions the book “Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown as being especially transformational in her journey to overcome challenges in the workplace.
Follow Dr. Kunz on Twitter @PamelaKunzMD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2022
A former dean of Stanford Medical School and past leader at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Phil Pizzo is as renowned for his groundbreaking research on childhood cancers and immunodeficiency as he is for his promotion of medical education. He is also a tireless scholar who continues pursuing knowledge and purpose deep into what many would consider the retirement years. In this episode, Dr. Pizzo shares what caring for children with some of the most harrowing diseases has taught him about courage, and how his creation of Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute epitomizes his vision for longevity and philosophy of lifelong learning.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Pizzo’s love of learning and objection to the Vietnam War led him to a career in medicine - 2:00
- Teddy, a “boy in the bubble” whom Dr. Pizzo cared for and who profoundly shaped Dr. Pizzo’s career and life philosophy - 5:54
- Leaning into the work of treating severe diseases, despite the realities of the deep suffering involved - 14:46
- The guiding principles behind Dr. Pizzo’s time in leadership at the National Institutes of Health, Harvard Medical School, and Stanford Medical School - 20:01
- How Dr. Pizzo manages to maintain tranquility of mind and buoyancy of spirit over his long career, and why he created the Distinguished Careers Institute - 22:51
- The surprising next step in Dr. Pizzo’s scholarly journey - 30:42
- Dr. Pizzo’s advice to young people about the value of a habit of lifelong learning - 34:40
Read more about Teddy DeVita, the “boy in the bubble” whom Dr. Pizzo cared for, in this Washington Post article.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Abraham Verghese is a prolific writer and revered physician who has deeply contemplated the philosophical underpinnings of the practice of medicine. He is renowned as an advocate for the importance of bedside examination and physical diagnosis, and his best-selling books probe the intricacies of human connection in the context of healthcare. In this episode, Dr. Verghese discusses how maintaining a literary life has impacted his approach to doctoring, why the human touch still matters for healing in our increasingly digital age, and his vision of the future of medicine.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dr. Verghese’s love of literature influenced his decision to enter medicine - 2:39
- Reflections on the challenges of contemporary medicine - 7:51
- How physical exams can be seen as a ritual for “reading the body like a book” - 10:07
- Dr. Verghese’s perspective on the future of doctor-patient relationships given the rise of telemedicine and other technologies - 20:36
- Balancing the need to connect with each patient for their treatment, while being responsible for so many at once - 26:23
- How the craft of writing relates to medicine for Dr. Verghese - 31:50
- The counterintuitive diagnostic efficiency of taking the time and care to meet patients where they are at - 35:45
Dr. Verghese is the author of three books:
My Own Country (1994) - traces the story of young Dr. Verghese in the mid-1980s in Johnson City, Tennessee, who began to treat patients with a then unknown disease, HIV.
The Tennis Partner (1999) - Dr. Verghese writes of his experience moving to El Paso in the midst of an unraveling marriage. There, he meets and becomes a mentor to David Smith, a medical resident at the hospital and a brilliant tennis player recovering from drug addiction.
Cutting for Stone (2009) - a novel about twin brothers, orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and forsaken by their father.
The book that Dr. Verghese credits as having inspired him to pursue medicine is Of Human Bondage (1915), by William Somerset Maugham - Available for free
Follow Dr. Verghese on Twitter @cuttingforstone and visit his website AbrahamVerghese.org.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
Dr. Dean Winslow has led an extraordinarily multifaceted career as an infectious disease specialist and former US Air Force colonel. In his pioneering work at the front lines of the AIDS epidemic, he headed one of the first HIV clinics in the country and created HIV treatments and diagnostics still used today. During his multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq as a flight surgeon, he commanded field hospitals that treated military personnel and local civilians alike. As a long-time professor of medicine at Stanford, he has been a popular mentor to hundreds of medical professionals. In this episode, with his trademark cheerful and humble demeanor, Dr. Winslow shares the colorful, poignant, and amusing stories he has collected over his decades of service.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Winslow’s personal path that led him to medicine and his initial work during the early days of the AIDS epidemic - 2:51
- How Dr. Winslow manages the emotional burden that comes with treating seriously ill patients with HIV - 20:24
- Dr. Winslow’s experiences in military medicine and how they have shaped his medical career - 25:31
- A humorous story on solving a tough infectious disease case through medical detective work - 32:09
- Dr. Winslow’s advice to medical trainees who may be struggling with burnout, and what improvements should be made to the healthcare system to take pressure off medical professionals - 36:51
A narrative essay by Dr. Winslow about his military medical career: Treating the Enemy.
Follow Dr. Winslow’s work at StanfordHealthcare.org
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Ira Byock is a leading figure in hospice and palliative medicine, having developed many practices and tools that now define the specialty. For him, this profession is a continual pursuit of balancing the scientific and human aspects of medical care, to address patient well-being in a way that transcends conventional concepts of disease and illness. In this episode, Dr. Byock joins us to discuss how palliative medicine developed into what it is today, how viewing death as a normal part of human living can allow patients to create meaning at the end of life, and what all clinicians can learn from palliative care about good doctoring.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Byock’s early work in family and rural medicine and the moral crisis that awakened him to the need for palliative medicine - 1:51
- Dr. Byock’s experiences in pioneering the nascent field of palliative medicine - 7:53
- Combating the prevailing notion that medicine is only about treating injuries and curing illnesses - 11:16
- A story about a dying patient and the extra mile Dr. Byock went for her, which solidified his belief in the power of palliative care - 17:05
- Reimagining our relationship to death, both from the clinician’s and patient’s perspectives - 24:10
- The Four Things that Matter Most - 31:19
- Lessons learned from patients experiencing the end of their lives - 35:52
- Dr. Byock’s advice to young medical professionals and students - 39:31
Connect with Dr. Byock on Twitter @IraByock.
Dr. Byock is the author of several books:
Dying Well
The Four Things that Matter Most
The Best Care Possible
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Dr. Adjoa Boateng has always felt drawn to helping those at the margins of society. An intensivist and physician-writer at Stanford, Dr. Boateng has found language to be a crucial part of not only her clinical work, but of her art as well. In a medical specialty that can often be mired in technical jargon and dehumanizing shorthand, she champions an even greater importance on the choice of words physicians use as a critical aspect of care.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Boateng’s career in helping individuals from marginalized populations - 1:51
- How she maintains a connection to the spiritual dimensions of medicine despite working in what can often be the most impersonal of medical settings, the ICU - 4:45
- Her reflection on a particularly transcendent moment with a patient approaching death - 7:21
- Making space for the sacred, even in the antiseptic rooms of a hospital - 9:57
- How she discovered her passion for narrative medicine and writing poetry - 15:40
- The importance of humanizing language, especially when talking to patients - 17:37
- The concept of “miracles” in medicine - 22:26
- The difficulties Dr. Boateng experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a new attending and new mother - 26:17
- The intense scrutiny she has experienced as a black woman working in medicine - 30:39
- A poem Dr. Boateng has been writing for her son about his birth - 35:23
Connect with Dr. Boateng on Twitter @BoatengMD.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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A crisis of burnout is rippling through the medical community; physicians are experiencing ever-increasing mental, physical, and social strain while the healthcare system offers little assistance with that burden. For leadership coach Rebecca Merrill, this crisis is a calling. For years, she has been coaching senior leaders in healthcare to help them reconnect with what brought them to medicine in the first place. In this episode, we speak with Merrill about how she helps clinicians lead a purposeful life and how healthcare institutions can better safeguard against workforce attrition.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What coaching is, how it compares to therapy, and how it can help doctors - 2:20
- What makes physicians unique when it comes to coaching them - 10:40
- How Merrill responds to skepticism of coaching - 14:44
- The primary causes causes of physician burnout - 16:32
- How healthcare administrators can balance patient satisfaction with physician well-being - 24:32
- Merrill’s advice to medical professionals around self-care 38:06
- Merrill’s advice to healthcare leaders and administrators who want to better support and protect their staff from burnout - 40:28
Merrill's website can be found at MerrillLeadership.com.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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As a college student, Dr. Samuel Brown never believed he would work in medicine. Yet today, he is not only an accomplished intensivist at Intermountain Healthcare and a professor of medicine at the University of Utah, but also an acclaimed writer, theologian, and religious historian. For Dr. Brown, this career is truly a spiritual calling. In this heartfelt and frequently humorous episode, we meet with him to discuss his unusual journey to medicine and to understand how his personal philosophy helps him connect with the sick and dying.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Brown’s personal history of religiosity and his initial resistance to a career in medicine – 2:43
- How Dr. Brown’s belief in the divinity of each human informs his work as a physician – 11:16
- The changing social, cultural, and medical contexts of death and dying in America, and the development of the modern ICU, as explored in his book Through the Valley of Shadows - 15:09
- The depersonalization of patients in the ICU and how spirituality helps foster the doctor-patient relationship – 21:36
- Finding meaning in tragedy, especially one as massive and widespread as the COVID-19 pandemic – 28:33
- Dr. Brown’s advice for all students and new medical professionals on maintaining a healthy outlook in an often-harrowing world – 33:29
Dr. Brown’s most recent book is Through the Valley of Shadows: Living Wills, Intensive Care, and Making Medicine Human.
Connect with Dr. Brown on Twitter @DrSamuelBrown.
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Few people have a more well-rounded understanding of our healthcare system than Dr. Lloyd Minor, Dean of Stanford Medical School. With diverse experiences in research, surgery, healthcare education, clinical care, and institutional leadership, Dean Minor has cultivated a unique bird’s-eye view of the obstacles that face our increasingly complex medical system. In this episode, we ask him to share insights on how to create robust support systems for both patients and medical staff alike, in order to address difficult institutional challenges such as burnout, work-life balance for healthcare staff, and racial inequities in care.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How Dean Minor’s interests in math and science shaped his career as a physician scientist - 2:13
- Dean Minor’s belief that earning trust and respect as a leader is paramount to making a shared vision come to life - 8:57
- His challenges with work/life balance during his years of training - 10:23
- Stanford’s commitment to precision health initiatives - 13:23
- Racial disparities in our healthcare system, and what we can do to create better outcomes - 27:18
- The importance of teaching leadership skills to medical trainees - 32:26
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The practice of medicine has a rich legacy, sharing common themes yet manifesting in myriad forms around the world. For Dr. Cesar Padilla, an obstetric anesthesiologist and clinical assistant professor at Stanford, this historical and cultural thread is vivid and alive, informing care and connection with his patients and students. In this episode, we ask Dr. Padilla to reflect on his personal history and that of the wider medical field to gain insights on best practices for care across cultures.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Dr. Padilla’s childhood summers residing in a Catholic hospital in Mexico, and how that ignited his passion for medicine - 3:45
- Why Dr. Padilla believes the ‘art’ of medicine resides in human connection - 6:18
- The educational inequities & challenges he faced as a first generation immigrant - 10:12
- Why the history of medicine and culture is so important in providing quality care - 16:24
- How to connect with patients when differing cultural backgrounds are involved - 26:06
- The one piece of advice Dr. Padilla wants all medical trainees to remember - 35:19
Dr. Padilla writes extensively about the history of medicine. Here are articles mentioned in the episode:
The Best Argument for Medicare for All - Our Nation’s First Hospital, Co-founded by Benjamin Franklin, Provided Free Care for the Poor
From an ICU Doctor - What We Really Think About Death and Dying
A partial list of Dr. Padilla’s other writings: https://medium.com/@cesarraudelpadilla
Connect with Dr. Padilla on Twitter @TheMillennialMD
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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One aspect of the medical profession that doesn’t often garner a great deal of public attention is that of caring for patients who are dying. For Dr. Mimi Dunne, the relief of suffering has been her life’s calling — specifically the mission of relieving mental and social suffering in the lives of terminal patients, and helping them and their families find solace and meaning as they face mortality. This week, we ask Dr. Dunne to share insights and lessons from her experience in palliative care.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What palliative care entails and what kinds of physicians specialize in it- 02:06
- Dr. Dunne’s path from emergency care to palliative medicine - 3:36
- Common misconceptions about palliative care - 7:43
- Stories of a pivotal patient case that illuminates Dr. Dunne’s career - 11:33
- What it is like to accompany patients at their end of life - 15:59
- A discussion of Narrative Medicine and storytelling - 23:44
- A discussion of the Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware - 29:29
Works, Organizations, and Individuals Discussed:
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
The Center to Advance Palliative Care
Dr. Diane Meier, professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Bill Moyer’s PBS docu-series Healing in the Mind
Dr. Laura Carstensen of the Stanford Center on Longevity
Dr. Ira Byock’s work on Developmental Tasks of the End of Life
Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness by Dr. Rita Charon
Professor Dan McAdams’ work on Narrative Identity
The Top Five Regrets of the Dyingby Bronnie Ware
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Chaplain Bruce Feldstein, MD is the director of the Jewish Chaplaincy Service at Stanford University, as well as an adjunct clinical professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. After 19 years practicing as an emergency medicine physician, an injury led Bruce on a path of finding a deeper sense of his life’s work as a Chaplain. He now teaches an award winning curriculum on spirituality and well-being for medical students and faculty at Stanford.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- Chaplain Feldstein’s unexpected journey from emergency physician to chaplain - 3:35
- The unforgettable moment when Chaplain Feldstein first prayed with a patient - 5:00
- How to connect with patients in a spiritual way – even if they’re not religious - 18:04
- Five key relationships to foster in your life to counter compassion fatigue - 30:57
- The core teaching within Chaplain Feldstein’s class, ‘The Healer’s Art’ - 37:40
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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Medicine is a challenging and complex, yet ultimately fulfilling vocation that has seen much upheaval in recent years, from technological disruptions to the COVID-19 pandemic. For medical student Henry Bair and oncologist Tyler Johnson, both at Stanford University, this moment calls for a mindful investigation of the factors driving those who work in health care, whether as clinicians, educators, or executives. Probing the humanistic dimensions of patient care, they explore the philosophies and realities underpinning the healthcare profession.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- What first drew co-hosts Henry and Tyler to the medical profession - 03:26
- The moments that epitomized why they pursued healthcare as their life’s calling - 10:08
- The growing pattern of burnout and alienation among medical workers - 21:40
- Previews of subjects that will be covered in future episodes of this podcast - 25:03
Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.
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The practice of medicine – filled with moments of joy, suffering, grace, sorrow, and hope – offers a window into the human condition. Though serving as guides and companions to patients’ illness experiences is profoundly meaningful work, the busy nature of modern medicine can blind its own practitioners to the reasons they entered it in the first place. Join oncologist Tyler Johnson and medical trainee Henry Bair as they meet with doctors, patients, leaders, educators, and others in healthcare, to explore stories on finding and nourishing meaning in medicine. This podcast is for anyone striving for a deeper connection with their medical journey.
Please subscribe for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com. Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com for more information.
Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2022