We talk with PW columnist and TheHappyMD.com CEO Dike Drummond, MD, about the three energy accounts—physical, emotional, and spiritual—we all have. The different types of energy serve different purposes because we are more than just physical beings, especially when functioning as a physician caring for patients. Dr. Drummond explains how any of these falling into a negative balance gives rise to a different symptom of physician burnout, how each is filled in a different way, and how to take...

This week, we have two top-tier guests explaining some pretty remarkable breakthroughs published this summer in their respective fields of MS and dermatology, respectively.  Sergio Baranzini, PhD (UCSF), discusses recently published research on a genetic breakthrough in understanding MS progression. Dr. Baranzini’s research involves large analyses of samples from patients with MS to characterize the activity of genes during 1) different stages of the disease (eg, remission vs. relapse), 2)...

Samir Mitragotri, PhD (The Mitragotri lab, Harvard) discusses a novel breakthrough his lab recently published in which an engineered particle referred to as a “backpack” can robustly adhere to macrophage surfaces and regulate cellular phenotypes in vivo. Understanding how these approaches work is not only interesting, it is a refreshing and innovative approach to drug delivery we will be seeing more of soon.   Also, Pancreatic Cancer Action (PCA) founder and pancreatic cancer survivor Ali...

Almost one-half of adolescents have experienced a mental health disorder, and while medications have the potential to be very effective for some, others might not respond or even experience adverse reactions as a result of their genetics. When it comes to treating children and teens in crisis, every second counts—and drug-gene testing can help doctors ensure they prescribe the right therapies from the start. Genetic tests for variants impacting drug metabolization have advanced tremendously...

In the second episode of a series of in-depth conversations, Dike Drummond, MD (family physician, CEO of TheHappyMD.com), discusses the fundamental conflict underlying most physicians’ burnout and how to move forward. Dr. Drummond has coached and trained more than 40,000 doctors for over 175 organization and association clients since 2010. His Burnout Prevention MATRIX White Paper shares 235 different ways to stop physician burnout. This is a topic worthy of extensive discussion. Take the...

Nicolas Girard, MD (Curie-Montsouris Thorax Institute, Institut Curie, France), discusses lung cancer research he presented at ASCO 2023, including an advance in the understanding of this difficult-to-treat disease. Also Gregory Lip, MD (University of Liverpool, UK), reviews the most important updates to the CHEST clinical guidelines on antithrombotic therapy in arterial thrombosis and thromboembolism in COVID-19. Enjoy listening! Additional Reading Tatjana Potpara et al, Antithrombotic...

Vignesh Arasu, MD, PhD (Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research), explains his research at the intersection of medical imaging, breast cancer, and artificial intelligence. With the recently released documentary “Below the Belt” brining endometriosis into the limelight of late, we also take a deep dive into its etiology with David Redwine, MD, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who spent his career investigating the origin of endometriosis.  Enjoy Listening! Additional...

Amie Zarling, PhD (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Iowa State University), reviews some interesting research on developing and evaluating effective programs for hard-to-reach, under-resourced, and/or under-served populations, which primarily focus on improving family health. Also, regular contributor Dr. MedLaw discusses how, when, and why physicians should disclose their own errors. Did you know that hiding an error will underpin the independent intentional tort of fraudulent...

Welcome to Episode 101, which seems a great place to go back to basics! Regular PW podcast contributor and PW Editorial Board member Alex McDonald, MD, speaks with Francis Chu, MD, a family physician who currently serves as the program director for Kaiser Permanente San Jose (KPSJ) Family Medicine Residency, director of Graduate Medical Education at KPSJ, assistant dean of the KP Silicon Valley Regional Campus, and volunteer instructor of Family Medicine at Boston University. Drs. McDonald...

This week’s episode of the PW Podcast is celebratory, in honor of our 100th episode. This has been a fantastic adventure, and we have been honored to interview more than 150 health practitioners to date, exposed to so much fantastic clinical science and expertise! We need to thank all our guests, as well as our regular contributors, Dr. Medlaw and Dr. Alex McDonald. This is an opportunity to also thank our sound guys at The Audio and the great staff at Physician’s Weekly. But we would...

Doctor burnout is a significant and pervasive issue that can have detrimental effects on well-being, job satisfaction, and ultimately, patient care. Dike Drummond, MD, family doctor and CEO of TheHappyMD.com, discusses this important topic. Dr. Drummond is the author of the Burnout Prevention MATRIX, which shares 235 ways to stop burnout, and has coached and trained over 40,000 doctors. Enjoy Listening! Check out Dr. Drummond's 1st post in the new TheHappyMD@PW series! And check back...

Patrice Forget, MD, PhD (University of Aberdeen) discusses developments in safe pain management and the best evidence-based use of opioids in the current landscape. Dr. Forget is a recognized international expert on pain management and recently published an overview on this topic in Lancet. Also, Dr. MedLaw shares her clinical and legal perspective on dealing with another doctor’s errors. Dr. MedLaw explores the issue of whether doctors who notice these errors become legally liable if they do...

The 14th-century bubonic plague killed up to half the population in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It has been hypothesized that such a deadly disease may have provided a selected event for genetic variants that protect against infection. People with protective versions of certain genes would be more likely to survive and pass on those variants to future generations. Yet pinpointing such variants has been a challenge. An NIH-funded team of researchers, led by Drs. Hendrik Poinar...

Gary Milechman, MD, FACC (UCSF Cardiovascular Care and Prevention Center), explains how curiosity guides his differential diagnostics approach, which he shares in teaching the nearly lost art of diagnostics. Also, Adrian Desai Boström, PhD (Karolinksa Institute, Sweden), discuses the implications of his study findings, indicating that male adolescents living in areas where bipolar disorder is diagnosed more frequently are also associated with significantly fewer suicide deaths than in...

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, PhD (Executive Director, Karson Institute for Race, Peace, and Social Justice, Communication and African & African American Studies, Loyola University Maryland and President, National Women's Studies Association), discusses the ongoing impacts of the George Floyd murder case, sharing the facts that 79% of Black parents say police violence affects their mental health and that 38% of Black people say the feel anxious when the see an officer. Also, Tracy Velázquez,...

Steven Younger, MD (Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center), talks with us about tough conversations with patients after poor outcomes, as well as the “Great Resignation” and the consequent stress on physicians due to shortages. Also, Nader Sanai, MD (Chief Scientific Officer/Director Neurosurgical Oncologist, Ivy Brain Tumor Center), discusses the challenges facing brain cancer research and treatment and efforts to find a cure. Those with a brain cancer diagnosis quickly run out...

Carla Perissinotto, MD, MHS (Professor of Geriatric Medicine, UCSF) frames her recently published data on social isolation and loneliness as medical issues in the context of the Surgeon General’s report stating that “loneliness in older adults is a health priority.” We then turn to a situation many doctors would not have necessarily have thought was related to them. The charges were recently dropped against Alec Baldwin in the case of the cinematographer who was killed on his movie set when a...

Dena Battle (President, KCCure), a former congressional aide who spent nearly two decades working on tax and healthcare policy—with expertise in health care reimbursement, tax treatment of benefit plans, the orphan-drug tax credit, and corporate research and development policy—discusses medical misinformation on the Internet and the mitigation of doctor-patient discord. Also, Bernard Zalc, MD, reviews a new model that may help correlate demyelination with the evolution of cognitive and motor...

John Showalter, MD (CPO, Linus Health) discusses the types of cognitive care that patients want from their physicians and what physicians need to know about cognitive health as is carves out a bigger place in primary care. According to a recent survey of patient expectations, more than 80% of elderly patients are concerned about developing dementia, but their doctors are not screening for early indicators or discussing treatment and prevention. Dr. Showalter discusses this survey data and why...

Regular contributor Dr. MedLaw explains the legal doctrine “assumption of the risk,” helping answer the question “If a patient is explained the risks of medical care and agrees to the treatment, aren’t they agreeing to those risks?” Also, Cynthia Kelly, RD, CD (CEO of the Gluten Intolerance Group), discusses new understandings in gluten sensitivity and intolerance, including Celiac disease. She reviews the pathophysiology and addresses how to help patients overcome obstacles to reducing...

Steven Woolf, MD, MPH (Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine), discusses the ominous implications of the largest increase in US all-cause pediatric mortality rates in at least 50 years (up 20% in 2019-2021). A nation that begins losing its most cherished population—its children—faces a crisis like no other. Also, Sergio Giralt, MD, reviews results from the MarMMa-3 trial, which investigated the safety and efficacy of idecabtagene vicleucel for relapsed or refractory multiple...

Priya Sarin Gupta, MD, MPH (Mass General), discusses how mobile health services for medically underserved populations work, as well as the potential impacts of the recently FDA-approved OTC Narcan for opioid overdose treatment. Also, World Ovarian Cancer Coalition CEO Clara MacKay talks about the newest advances in ovarian cancer, how the organization supports patients with ovarian cancer worldwide, barriers being addressed, and the upcoming World Ovarian Cancer Day, which brings awareness...

Sarfaraz Niazi, PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago), discusses the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act—President Biden’s historic new prescription drug law under which drug companies will pay rebates to Medicare when their prescription drug prices increase faster than the rate of inflation for certain drugs—on the use of generics and biosimilars. Also, Sami Khella, MD (University of Pennsylvania), talks about the phase 3 NEURO-TTRansform Study, which produced promising results for...

Robert Glicksman (George Washington University Law School) speaks about how provisions affecting climate change, which he recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, will have substantial health effects on the American public. We also talk to Art Papier, MD, who is dedicated to applying machine learning and AI to improve accuracy in dermatology diagnoses among non-dermatologists to diagnose skin conditions (34% improvement), save time, and enhance patient-physician...

Fitting with the theme of Spring, Dr. Yaniv Elkouby (Hebrew University, Israel) discusses his recently published research on how eggs develop in the fetal period of developing females. This involves a chromosomal bouquet formed by microtubule fibers, which is necessary for proper oocyte development. When perturbations in these structures occur, infertility or miscarriage results. Also, Chris DiBlasio, MD, explains how prostate-specific membrane antigen PET imaging will significantly improve...