Palliative care physician and author Alen Voskanian discusses his article, "Discover the secrets to regaining joy in medicine," based on an excerpt from his book. Drawing from his personal experience with burnout where he felt isolated and like a failure within the demanding medical industry, Alen strongly emphasizes that burnout is a common result of a broken health care system, not an individual failing. He offers key advice points for physicians and health care workers: recognize burnout isn't your fault, engage in fixing the system, always prioritize patients ethically, let go of harmful comparison and competition, seek help without shame, make time for loved ones and important life events, prioritize personal health and wellbeing through nutrition, sleep, exercise, and mindfulness, practice gratitude, curb perfectionism, and continually reconnect with your core purpose for entering the field. Alen urges colleagues to understand that joy is their right and to actively reclaim it for themselves, their families, and their patients.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust.

Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Internal medicine physician Edward Hoffer discusses his article, "Can rural health care be saved?" He outlines the significant health care disparities facing rural communities, including higher death rates from major diseases, increased opioid overdoses, ongoing hospital closures, and an aging physician workforce without adequate replacement. Edward questions the effectiveness of programs like the Critical Access Hospital designation, suggesting they may sometimes support lower-quality care, and shares a personal anecdote illustrating the dire consequences of specialist shortages in isolated settings. He proposes several potential solutions to improve rural health care: enhancing transportation, including establishing fairly-priced air ambulance services; expanding the use of telemedicine for specialty consultations and patient access; better utilizing EMTs and paramedics with remote support; considering strategic consolidation of rural hospitals for improved quality despite potentially longer travel; and focusing medical school recruitment on students from rural backgrounds. Edward underscores the complexity of the rural health care challenge and advises awareness of resource limitations.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust.

Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Health care attorney Dennis Hursh discusses his article, "What every physician should know before buying into a medical practice." He emphasizes that while receiving an offer to buy into a practice is typically a significant honor and opportunity, physicians must perform thorough due diligence to avoid potential pitfalls. Dennis advises physicians and their legal counsel to meticulously review corporate governance documents, watching for unequal voting rights or tiered partnership structures that limit influence. He stresses the importance of examining shareholders' or operating agreements to ensure the buy-in methodology matches the buy-out methodology and scrutinizing employment agreements for parity with other partners. Dennis also highlights the necessity of assessing the practice's financial stability by reviewing recent tax returns and understanding any existing debt, distinguishing legitimate asset-backed debt from potentially problematic borrowing used to pay owners. The core message is to celebrate the opportunity but proceed with caution and professional advice to ensure the buy-in is a genuinely good deal.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust.

Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Child psychiatrist and entrepreneur Marissa Caudill discusses her article, "How a customer relationship management tool (CRM) can help physicians regain control and beat burnout." She argues that a significant driver of physician burnout is the lack of control within systems that prioritize metrics and administrative tasks over meaningful patient connections, leaving doctors feeling overwhelmed and disconnected. Marissa proposes that physicians can regain control and find more joy by implementing their own systems, specifically highlighting the power of customer relationship management (CRM) tools. She explains how a HIPAA-compliant CRM allows physicians to automate communication (like newsletters, check-ins, scheduling), enhance patient relationships, manage educational content, and ethically market their services—reframing marketing as connection—all while freeing up time. Marissa shares her transformative experience using a CRM with AI features in her parent coaching practice, enabling greater impact and easier communication. Ultimately, she contends that such tools help physicians focus on patient care, build financially stable practices potentially beyond insurance constraints, and reconnect with their original purpose.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Now you can streamline and customize documentation, surface information right at the point of care, and automate tasks with just a click.

Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot offers an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform to help unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise—and it's built on a foundation of trust.

It's time to ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Physician assistant David Olson discusses his article, "Taking a break from medicine: a journey to rediscover joy and purpose." He describes feeling trapped in an unhealthy, borderline abusive relationship with medicine, citing normalized disrespect, intense pressure from employers focused on metrics over provider wellbeing, and the demoralizing impact of system failures, particularly during and after COVID-19. David shares his experiences with dwindling job satisfaction as a hospitalist facing staffing instability and later in the "wasteland" of primary care, highlighting how burnout severely affected his marriage and his relationship with his children, leaving him exhausted and short-tempered. Realizing incremental changes weren't enough, David and his wife made the drastic decision to take a year-long break from medicine to travel the world with their three young children, prioritizing family, joy, and quality of life over salary. This journey is his attempt to rediscover purpose and hope, offering encouragement to other health care professionals facing similar struggles to challenge limiting beliefs and consider bold changes for their own well-being.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust.

Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Physician advocate and physical therapist Kim Downey, physician coach Erin Hurley, and patient advocate Dawn Veselka discuss their article, "Spreading hope one card at a time: How small acts of kindness can make a big difference for doctors." They highlight the emotional toll of medicine, noting a concerning shift in how physicians describe their work—from fulfilling to exhausting and demoralizing—contributing to burnout rates near 50 percent and high suicide rates. Kim, Erin, and Dawn champion the power of simple acts of kindness, like handwritten notes, to combat this, referencing Erin's personal experience receiving encouraging cards during medical school. They introduce the expansion of Dawn's Cards2Warriors Happy Mail program to include doctors, challenging listeners to write a note of appreciation by Doctors' Day (March 30) to refuel and rekindle hope in physicians. The conversation emphasizes that such small gestures can create a ripple effect of positivity throughout the health care community, ultimately improving well-being and potentially patient interactions. Actionable takeaways include writing a thank-you note to a doctor, signing up for or supporting the Cards2Warriors program, and organizing local card-writing events.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Want to streamline your clinical documentation and take advantage of customizations that put you in control? What about the ability to surface information right at the point of care or automate tasks with just a click? Now, you can.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Offering an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform, Dragon Copilot can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise and it's part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare–and it's built on a foundation of trust.

Ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Interventional physiatrist Francisco M. Torres discusses his article "The key to longevity: fitness, mindset, and nutrition." He challenges societal assumptions about inevitable decline after age sixty, arguing that joy, vitality, and strength can thrive with the right approach. Francisco emphasizes a combination of factors: tailored fitness routines incorporating strength, cardiovascular, and flexibility exercises; listening to the body and finding personal joy in movement; and prioritizing nourishing foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Crucially, he highlights the power of mindset, citing research showing that "subjective age" and satisfaction with aging correlate more strongly with well-being and "flourishing" than chronological age does. Francisco stresses that viewing aging as enabling wisdom and experience, rather than limiting, combined with community connection through shared activities, is key to embracing health and vitality at any stage of life.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Now you can streamline and customize documentation, surface information right at the point of care, and automate tasks with just a click.

Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot offers an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform to help unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise—and it's built on a foundation of trust.

It's time to ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Practicing internist and psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article "Criminalizing care: How the system turned on physicians." He argues that physicians, historically pillars of trust, are increasingly being targeted and criminalized under regulations like the Controlled Substances Act and health care fraud statutes. Muhamad details several cases, including those of Drs. Sachy, Kousa, and Anand, as well as his own acquittal on federal fraud charges, to illustrate how medical judgment and complex patient care are being conflated with criminal activity. He critiques the tactics used, such as aggressive federal investigations, flawed audits, data manipulation in PDMPs, inflammatory press releases ("dirty doctors"), and a perceived erosion of the presumption of innocence, noting that only 0.4 percent of federal defendants are found not guilty. Muhamad highlights the devastating personal and professional consequences for physicians and the disruption to patient care, calling for urgent reforms including clearer guidelines, prosecutorial accountability, DEA process reform, and equal application of due process to end the war on healers.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Now you can streamline and customize documentation, surface information right at the point of care, and automate tasks with just a click.

Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot offers an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform to help unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise—and it's built on a foundation of trust.

It's time to ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

General surgeon Arthur Williams discusses his article "A surgeon's battle with ketamine-induced hallucinations." He shares an account from his novel of an experience needing a pacemaker for a "janky heart" prone to atrial fibrillation and bradycardia (sick sinus node), complicated by a low ejection fraction. Arthur vividly describes the anxiety and vulnerability of being a surgeon on the patient side of the gown, his candid and sometimes critical inner thoughts during interactions with the nursing staff and anesthesiologist, and the specific fear associated with the invasive procedure. He recounts the anesthesiologist's decision to use ketamine due to its less cardiodepressive effects, despite warning of potential "weird dreams." Arthur then details the profound and disorienting visual hallucinations—kaleidoscopes of fire, burning apparitions, and a sense of crossing the River Styx—that occurred after the ketamine was administered, offering a raw look at the potential side effects of anesthesia from a physician's unique vantage point.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Now you can streamline and customize documentation, surface information right at the point of care, and automate tasks with just a click.

Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot offers an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform to help unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise—and it's built on a foundation of trust.

It's time to ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Internal medicine and infectious disease physician and author Joshua D. Hartzell discusses his article "Leading with care: How health care leadership can transform patient and provider well-being." He addresses the crisis of burnout and attrition in health care, arguing that leaders often fail to extend the same level of care to their teams as they do to patients. Joshua introduces "caring-inspired leadership," an evidence-based approach where every leadership action centers on caring for the team to improve both provider well-being and patient care. He outlines key strategies: leaders must prioritize their own well-being by setting boundaries and taking vacations to avoid burnout, which impacts leadership effectiveness; they should actively support their team's well-being by fostering a culture where self-care is expected and possible, offering flexibility and support systems; investing in professional development through mentoring and sponsorship is crucial; and leaders must cultivate a habit of expressing specific gratitude to make staff feel valued. Joshua urges leaders to adopt these practices to build compassionate, excellent cultures in medicine.

Our presenting sponsor is Microsoft Dragon Copilot.

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow, is transforming how clinicians work. Now you can streamline and customize documentation, surface information right at the point of care, and automate tasks with just a click.

Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot offers an extensible AI workspace and a single, integrated platform to help unlock new levels of efficiency. Plus, it's backed by a proven track record and decades of clinical expertise—and it's built on a foundation of trust.

It's time to ease your administrative burdens and stay focused on what matters most with Dragon Copilot, your AI assistant for clinical workflow.

VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended