Why truth still matters in the courtroom: lessons from a physician witness

Physician
June 25, 2025

“In the courtroom, I was asked to speak about wounds. But the deepest wounds I saw weren’t just in patients — they were in trust, in truth, and in the silence that follows when no one wants to say what really happened.”

I never aspired to testify in court. Like most physicians, I trained to treat patients — not to evaluate the decisions of others. But then a case came. A …

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Why truth still matters in the courtroom: lessons from a physician witness

Why the future of medicine depends on leading from the heart

Physician
June 25, 2025

There’s a sacred irony in medicine: Those who care for hearts often forget their own.

This truth came into sharp focus for me this past weekend, where I found myself in a room of women cardiologists at The American College of Cardiology in D.C.

The women in attendance were brilliant and compassionate. They spend their days pacing hearts, restarting them, and stenting them open. They are experts in life’s most vital rhythm. …

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Why the future of medicine depends on leading from the heart

Pain is more than physical: the story your body is trying to tell

Conditions
June 25, 2025

Pain is a signal. It gets our attention. It arrests, alarms, and demands we listen. C.S. Lewis wrote in the problem of pain: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” And what a deaf world we have become.

Pain is physical—a sign of tissue damage. It’s defined as “physical suffering or discomfort caused …

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Pain is more than physical: the story your body is trying to tell

Why holding a patient’s hand matters more than technology

Physician
June 25, 2025

I was on another overnight shift in the OB/GYN emergency department. The air was thick with tension, as it always is when the night is full of contractions, cries, and codes. One woman arrived in active labor — her first baby, frightened eyes, and no family by her side.

Everyone rushed to prepare for the delivery. Monitors beeped. Gloves snapped. Orders flew around the room. The focus was on the baby. …

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Why holding a patient’s hand matters more than technology

When credibility is your only asset: the cautionary tale of DrKoop.com [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 24, 2025
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Historian and ethicist Nigel Cameron discusses his article, “How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup.” The conversation chronicles the dramatic history of the iconic dot-com era …

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When credibility is your only asset: the cautionary tale of DrKoop.com [PODCAST]

Why sleep is the missing pillar in modern health care

Conditions
June 24, 2025

Sleep is not a luxury — it’s a fundamental pillar of health on par with diet and exercise. As we enter a new era of sleep, people are more aware than ever before of how rest impacts their overall health. We are at an inflection point where sleep is increasingly recognized as essential to preventative care and wellness. Yet, many still suffer in silence, trapped in a cycle of exhaustion.

The …

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Why sleep is the missing pillar in modern health care

How a family’s strength led to a successful kidney transplant

Conditions
June 24, 2025

An excerpt from The Healthy Kidney Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Manage Hypertension, Control Stress, and Prevent Renal Failure, Kidney Disease, and More.

A good friend and neighbor of mine is a kidney transplant survivor, and I wanted to thoughtfully document her thoughts on different parts of her journey. She is currently a married, African American woman, mother of a teenage son, in her forties, and works full time in …

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How a family’s strength led to a successful kidney transplant

The food-drug interaction risks your doctor may be missing

Meds
June 24, 2025

As a health care professional, I’ve often observed how one critical aspect of medication safety and efficacy gets overlooked: food-drug interactions.

Every day, we prescribe and dispense powerful medications — but what patients eat alongside those medications can completely alter their effects.

This isn’t just a pharmacy concern. It’s a multidisciplinary issue that deserves greater attention from physicians, pharmacists, and patient educators.

The physician’s role: Asking the right questions

We often do a solid …

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The food-drug interaction risks your doctor may be missing

Beyond the TikTok hype: Rebuilding trust in evidence-based weight loss medicine

Conditions
June 24, 2025

A woman sat nervously in front of me, eyes wide, voice low. “I saw this video on TikTok,” she said. “Now I’m not sure I want to try it.” “It” was semaglutide—one of the most transformative medications we’ve seen for weight loss and metabolic health in years. But her fear wasn’t uncommon. Like many patients I see, she came in hopeful, but hesitant—torn between her desire to get healthy and …

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Beyond the TikTok hype: Rebuilding trust in evidence-based weight loss medicine

The weaponization of rules: How regulatory overreach puts physicians and health care at risk

Physician
June 24, 2025

In recent years, an alarming trend has emerged within the health care system, one that is eroding the very backbone of medical care delivery: the physician. What once were rules and regulations designed to protect and elevate the standard of medical care are increasingly being exploited by medical authorities as a tool to extort, reprimand, and harass physicians. More disturbingly, this extortion is now cloaked as “education,” forcing doctors to …

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The weaponization of rules: How regulatory overreach puts physicians and health care at risk

How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 23, 2025
YouTube video

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Pediatrician and certified coach Jessie Mahoney discusses her article, “Physician wellness is a strategic imperative—not a moral crusade.” The conversation focuses on why physicians must shift their advocacy for well-being from a …

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How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

Ethical dilemmas in using unclaimed bodies for medical research

Physician
June 23, 2025

In January, I wrote regarding the biased NBC report on unidentified bodies from a coroner’s office being used by a medical school. Subsequently, the network aired two related episodes.

The second report centered on a self-employed purveyor of bodies and parts. He displayed no respect for the people whose bodies or parts he sold. The report was disturbing, as there is an ethical difference between an individual profiting from these …

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Ethical dilemmas in using unclaimed bodies for medical research

The Nova Oath: a physician’s pledge to courageous and ethical care

Physician
June 23, 2025

The Nova Oath is a modern physician’s declaration of courageous care and ethical impact:

I stand not merely as a technician of the body, but as a steward of life, a witness to pain, and a catalyst for healing.

I vow:

  • To do more than avoid harm — I will do good: actively, intelligently, and compassionately.
  • To honor the trust placed in me not as entitlement, but as a sacred contract — …

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The Nova Oath: a physician’s pledge to courageous and ethical care

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AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

Tech
June 23, 2025

As a radiologist, I’ve heard the same question too many times, usually from anxious medical students struggling to decide if they should pursue radiology:
“Is AI going to replace radiologists?”

I understand the concern. I had similar fears during training. But after years of practicing medicine and watching AI promises play out in the real world, I can confidently say this: AI is not replacing radiologists. It’s not even close. And those …

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AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

How deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is transforming mental health care

Conditions
June 23, 2025

As a psychiatrist deeply committed to my patients’ well-being, there are moments etched into my memory—moments of profound suffering, struggle, and ultimately, redemption. I vividly recall Sarah (name changed for confidentiality), a 45-year-old teacher whose severe depression had drained all joy from her life. “Dr. Rifai, I just want my life back,” she told me, tears streaming down her face. Her plea echoed the silent anguish of countless patients I’ve …

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How deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is transforming mental health care

True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it

Physician
June 23, 2025

There’s a quiet rebellion happening in medicine. A movement of physicians no longer willing to sacrifice their humanity for productivity quotas, administrative burdens, or the illusion of perfection. We wrote White Coats, Courageous Hearts with thirteen other physicians to shine a light on this shift—voices reclaiming agency in a system that often forgets that doctors are human, too.

Alae Kawam, DO:

There has been a profound cultural shift—and an emerging rift—in the …

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True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it

How Gen Z is transforming mental health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 22, 2025
YouTube video

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Entrepreneur, AI enthusiast, and wellness advocate Vaishali Jha discusses her article, “Gen Z is already transforming mental health care—are we listening?” The conversation explores the vital need for new perspectives in health …

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How Gen Z is transforming mental health care [PODCAST]

Nurses aren’t eating their young — we’re starving the profession

Conditions
June 22, 2025

I know what I’m about to say is unpopular, and maybe even controversial within our field — but I need to say it.

I’ve been a nurse for 18 years. I care deeply about my patients, and I care about the future of this profession. But I’m increasingly disheartened by what I see inside our own ranks. There’s a phrase we all know: “nurses eat their young.” We repeat it so …

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Nurses aren’t eating their young — we’re starving the profession

Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength

Physician
June 22, 2025

The emergency physician across from me had it all on paper: good schedule, six-figure salary, respected by colleagues, two kids in college, mortgage nearly paid off. “I should be grateful,” she said, staring at her coffee. “But I keep wondering — is this it for the next twenty years?” If you’re nodding, you’re not alone. That quiet restlessness isn’t ingratitude. It’s evolution.

The script we’ve all been given

From day one of …

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Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength

U.S. health care leadership must prepare for policy-driven change

Policy
June 22, 2025

I am trapped in a circadian rhythm that I cannot escape from. I think it started when I finished my residency. And to make matters worse, this week it felt like I was also trapped in the series Squid Game. I awake about an hour before first light (sometimes as early as 4:30 a.m.) and almost instantly fall asleep about an hour after dusk if I am laying down. No …

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U.S. health care leadership must prepare for policy-driven change

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