The Doctor's Art

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

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