The Podcast by KevinMD

Physician Jessie Mahoney discusses her article "Ending burnout through structure, not gimmicks," making the case that the most effective remedies for physician burnout are systemic changes—reasonable patient loads, thoughtful schedules, supportive leadership, and reduced clerical work—not token perks or quick fixes. Jessie highlights the essential role of lifestyle medicine, mindfulness, and coaching in sustaining physicians' health and purpose, and warns against treating burnout as an individual failing instead of a cultural distress signal. She offers a layered approach combining institutional accountability, personal responsibility, and cultural evolution to create a medical environment where physicians can thrive and, in turn, deliver better patient care. 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

Public health advocate Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article "Why congenital CMV should be on every parent and doctor's radar," revealing how congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) remains the most common viral cause of disability in the U.S., yet is often ignored in medical training, prenatal counseling, and public health policy. Kathleen explains how toddlers act as primary vectors, why prevention advice is rarely shared, and how early antiviral treatment can improve outcomes when the infection is detected in time. She outlines practical steps clinicians can take now, from incorporating prevention into prenatal visits to advocating for universal newborn screening, and calls for a cultural and educational shift to make cCMV awareness as routine as counseling on folic acid or listeria. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Physician leader Janet Jokela discusses her article "How federal actions threaten vaccine policy and trust," highlighting the unprecedented removal of expert members from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and its replacement with individuals lacking clinical experience, some holding anti-vaccine views. Janet explains the downstream risks to immunization standards, insurance coverage, and public health, and describes swift pushback from major physician groups and ongoing legal challenges. She also examines the role of professional societies, emerging initiatives like the Vaccine Integrity Project, and the urgent need for new health communication models to rebuild trust. Janet offers actionable strategies to safeguard evidence-based policy, protect patient-physician relationships, and maintain vaccine access in the U.S. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Physician advocates Alae Kawam, Kim Downey, and Nicole Solomos discuss their article "True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it," sharing firsthand accounts of the cultural rift in modern medicine and the toll of corporate models on patient care and physician well-being. Alae, Kim, and Nicole outline how millennial and Gen Z physicians are redefining professional boundaries, resisting overwork, and demanding autonomy over cookie-cutter wellness programs. They highlight the divisions and biases among physicians, the erosion of collegiality, and the harm caused when outdated or false medical studies persist. The conversation offers actionable insights for health care leaders on valuing physicians as strategic assets, fostering collaboration, and restoring trust and compassion as the foundation of patient care. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Board-certified pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article, "Why self-care must become medicine's new standard." She challenges the long-held belief in medical culture that self-sacrifice is noble and that self-care is an indulgence. Jessie argues that caring for oneself is not a luxury but a responsible, non-negotiable standard of care for anyone in medicine. She explains that a physician's energy is their most critical resource, and its chronic depletion leads to poor decisions, burnout, and negative ripple effects. To change this, she introduces a powerful new framework: viewing self-care not as an emergency "oxygen mask" for when things go wrong, but as the "required maintenance" that happens between flights to prevent accidents. This shift redefines rest and replenishment as foundational to safe, effective, and sustainable patient care—as essential as a surgical time-out—and calls on the culture of medicine to make time for it as an expectation, not an afterthought. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Professional development practitioner and veteran emergency nurse Kristen Cline discusses her article, "America's ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within." Using the TV drama "The Pitt" as a reference point, she argues that the reality of the emergency department is exponentially more chaotic and dangerous than portrayed. Kristen shares her frontline perspective on the intersecting crises crippling the system: an epidemic of workplace violence where assault is treated as "part of the job," a wisdom gap created by an exodus of experienced nurses, and a perpetual backlog caused by hospital overcrowding and a lack of downstream facilities. The conversation reveals how profit-driven management and impending Medicaid cuts are accelerating the closure of rural hospitals and vital services, creating health care deserts. Her core message is a stark warning: the safety net is tearing, and it has been held together only by the sacrifice of health care workers who are running out of hope. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Family physician Jonathan Bushman discusses his article, "The hidden moral injury behind value-based health care." He shares the story of a young physician who was told to remove her most complex patients from her panel to protect the health system's performance metrics. Jonathan uses this powerful example to explain moral injury: a deep, ethical wound that is fundamentally different from burnout. The conversation exposes how value-based payment models, even in not-for-profit systems, can incentivize data manipulation and force doctors to choose between their patients' well-being and their employer's bottom line. He argues that this crisis of integrity is a primary reason many physicians are leaving employed positions for independent models like direct primary care (DPC), where they can answer directly to their patients instead of a spreadsheet. His core message is an urgent call to confront the reality that when "value" becomes code for "profitable," the entire system's moral compass is at risk. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Anesthesiologist and clinical mental health counselor Maire Daugharty discusses her article, "Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers." Drawing from her personal experience of losing three colleagues to suicide and overdose, Maire makes a powerful case for peer support as a direct antidote to the isolation that plagues the medical profession. She explains how the culture of medicine, with its relentless pursuit of perfection, leaves physicians vulnerable to despair when they inevitably face human fallibility. The conversation explores how structured peer support creates a space for authentic connection, validating shared struggles and mitigating the self-recrimination that can follow adverse outcomes. Maire also clarifies that while peer support is a lifeline, it is also a crucial tool for identifying colleagues who need deeper professional help, and for normalizing that next step. Her core message is an urgent call for medical environments to integrate protected peer support programs as an essential, proactive strategy to save lives. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Physician and public health advocate Judith Eguzoikpe discusses her article, "Hope is the lifeline: a deeper look into transplant care." She pulls back the curtain on the kidney transplant process, revealing that the true journey for patients with end-stage kidney disease is not just a single surgery but months or years of emotional and logistical challenges. Judith shares powerful patient stories that illustrate the fear, frustration, and uncertainty that define the waiting period. The conversation highlights the essential role of health care professionals as advocates who must provide not just information but presence and compassion. She also confronts the stark inequities in the system, where marginalized communities face greater barriers to care. The core message is a call for clinicians to look beyond lab values and recognize that building hope through advocacy and human connection is a critical part of the treatment itself. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended

Critical care physician Jess Bunin, co-founder of All Levels Leadership, discusses the article, "Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine." They challenge a core tenet of medical culture: the pressure to project certainty and always have the right answer. Jess argues that this fixation on "knowing" makes clinicians fragile and sabotages the ability to navigate difficult conversations on topics like racial equity and systems of power. The solution she proposes is civil discourse, which requires shifting one's identity from being "correct" to being "curious." She emphasizes that providing psychological safety is a leader's primary responsibility in making this shift possible. The conversation provides actionable skills like active listening and perspective-taking, reframing them not as "soft skills" but as essential survival skills for a health care system strained by polarization and burnout. Careers by KevinMD is your gateway to health care success. We connect you with real-time, exclusive resources like job boards, news updates, and salary insights, all tailored for health care professionals. With expertise in uniting top talent and leading employers across the nation's largest health care hiring network, we're your partner in shaping health care's future. Fulfill your health care journey at KevinMD.com/careers. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/careers Discovering disability insurance? Pattern understands your concerns. Over 20,000 doctors trust us for straightforward, affordable coverage. We handle everything from quotes to paperwork. Say goodbye to insurance stress – visit Pattern today at KevinMD.com/pattern. VISIT SPONSOR → https://kevinmd.com/pattern SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended