The office chairs most of us sit in all day have little science behind them, and the popular fixes may not be much better. Turner Osler is a trauma surgeon and epidemiologist. This episode is based on his article "How the benefits of active sitting change desk work [https://kevinmd.com/2026/08/how-the-benefits-of-active-sitting-change-desk-work.html]," published on KevinMD. You will hear why life table analyses suggest the people who sit the most lose about two years of life, where the 90-90-90 posture came from, and why lumbar support has largely failed. You will hear what goes wrong with kneeling chairs and yoga balls, and why he says standing desks are even worse, citing a 2018 Ontario study of 6,300 people followed for 12 years in which heart disease was doubled in the group that stood. You will also learn how active sitting builds movement into the workday by changing the environment rather than relying on willpower, and what a moving surface could do for people who use a standing desk. Press play for why you do not have to accept the chair you are sitting in.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With more than 100 million impressions a year and nearly 750,000 followers, subscribers and email recipients across my channels, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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Active sitting: Why ergonomic chairs and standing desks fail

A physician was fired by the doctors she had trained, in part because she preferred to see her own patients herself. Moral injury, she argues, does not require 100-hour weeks. Sarah A. Vlach is a physiatrist and sports medicine physician. This episode is based on her article "Moral injury doesn't care how many hours you worked [https://kevinmd.com/2026/07/moral-injury-doesnt-care-how-many-hours-you-worked.html]," published on KevinMD. You will hear how her working conditions slowly deteriorated, including nine months without a medical assistant, and why her first response was to knuckle down and work harder. She describes how financial incentives like RVUs now shape decisions in both corporate and private practice, and why she sees a two-track system forming as more clinicians move to cash-based care. She offers advice for new physicians starting out with large loans, and she explains how the Physician Support Line and writing about the experience helped her. Press play to hear what she wishes she had done sooner, and why she has found there is life after being a physician.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With more than 100 million impressions a year and nearly 750,000 followers, subscribers and email recipients across my channels, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Fired for seeing her own patients: moral injury and life after medicine

The words you put in a patient's chart can be used to deny their disability claim. A note that says "stable" or "improved" can mean one thing to you and another to the insurer. Jennifer Hess, an ERISA disability attorney and Riemer Hess partner, represents physicians and other professionals in long-term disability claims. This episode is based on her article "Why your patient's disability claim was denied [https://kevinmd.com/2026/03/why-your-patients-disability-claim-was-denied.html]," published on KevinMD. You'll hear why a fixed return-to-work date on a disability form can get benefits cut off, and what to write instead. You'll also learn how to add context to notes about improvement, pain, or depression, and why a short narrative letter can go a long way. Jennifer explains why you can ask insurers to put their questions in writing instead of answering on a surprise call. She also makes the case for checking your own disability policy, since you could one day be on the other side of the table. Hear what to write, what to leave out, and what to read before you sign.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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Disability claim denied? Your chart notes may be why.

Many doctors who run their own practices spend hours on work someone else could do. One practice owner who charges $300 an hour was his own receptionist, verifying insurance all night and stepping away from a family dinner to take a patient's call. Central AI and Wing Assistant CEO Karan Kanwar discusses his KevinMD article "The physician opportunity cost nobody puts on a bill [https://kevinmd.com/2026/08/the-physician-opportunity-cost-nobody-puts-on-a-bill.html]." He argues that this time, along with the revenue lost when calls go unanswered, never shows up on a profit and loss statement. You'll hear why practices hesitate, from reluctance to let go of tasks to worries about HIPAA compliance and connecting to the EHR. He walks through the easiest places to start, including phone calls, payer calls, billing and test result questions, and non-clinical questions about medical equipment. He also shares how to judge whether an AI vendor will still be around. Stay for a simple exercise: look at everything you do in a day and decide what you can give away.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Doctors lose hours to admin work that AI or an assistant could do

When you can't speak for yourself, a living will is supposed to speak for you. Too often, it doesn't. Seventy percent of U.S. adults don't have one, and those who do often keep it in a drawer at home. Emergency physician and MIDEO Health Technologies CEO Ferdinando Mirarchi and attorney Thaddeus Mason Pope discuss their KevinMD article "Why problems with advance directives keep harming patients [https://kevinmd.com/2026/07/why-problems-with-advance-directives-keep-harming-patients.html]." You'll learn that 80 percent of physicians equate the mere presence of an advance directive with a do not resuscitate (DNR) order. Mirarchi calls it the lethal glance, a split-second read by a clinician who has never met the patient. The errors go both ways: resuscitating people who never wanted it and failing to resuscitate people who chose full code. They explain how a POLST differs from an advance directive, how professional bias creeps in, and how patient-recorded videos can make your wishes clear in seconds. You'll leave knowing what to set up for yourself and your family now, and why clinicians should stop and ask instead of assuming.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Your living will could get you too much care, or too little

Someone tells you their memory is slipping. What you say next can decide whether treatment is still an option for them. Emer MacSweeney is a neuroradiologist and the cofounder and CEO of Re:Cognition Health. This episode is based on her article "Early Alzheimer's diagnosis now decides who gets treated [https://kevinmd.com/2026/06/early-alzheimers-diagnosis-now-decides-who-gets-treated.html]," published on KevinMD. She explains why two licensed treatments work only inside a narrow early window, and why a year spent waiting for an appointment can put a patient past it. You will hear how the three biomarker tests compare, including the blood test that is now widely available, and why she says not to order one unless the patient has symptoms. She also names the early signs she takes seriously: short-term memory trouble, losing words, getting lost in familiar places. If you have ever told someone their memory is just getting older, this conversation explains what that reassurance can cost.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Memory loss is not normal aging, and waiting costs the treatment window

A patient arrives already sure of what is wrong with them. The words they use came from somewhere else. Alan P. Feren is a retired surgeon, health care consultant, and patient advocate. This episode is based on his article "Clinical authorship: the missing principle in medical AI [https://kevinmd.com/2026/07/clinical-authorship-the-missing-principle-in-medical-ai.html]," published on KevinMD. He walks through the three points where artificial intelligence enters a visit: the patient shaping their story beforehand, the clinician leaning on decision support, and the ambient tool interpreting it after. No single step is reckless, he says, and that is the problem, because a diagnosis can travel from encounter to encounter with no one standing behind it. You will hear the questions he asks patients about what fits their experience and what does not, why an ambient note is an interpretation rather than a transcript, and why he puts actual intelligence first. If you sign notes you did not write, this conversation will change what you check first.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

A diagnosis no one authored can follow your patient from visit to visit

Medical training hands you a ready-made group of friends. Then it ends, and many women physicians find themselves starting over alone in a new city. Cassie Burton Greenbaum is a pediatric critical care physician and the founder of Off Service Mom Co., a friendship matchmaking service for physician moms. This episode is based on her article "Physician loneliness is driving women out of medicine [https://kevinmd.com/2026/06/physician-loneliness-is-driving-women-out-of-medicine.html]," published on KevinMD. You will hear why friendships get harder to build once you are the attending, and how a schedule with no pattern to it pulls you away from everyone who works ordinary hours. She explains how chronic loneliness turns into burnout and lost career satisfaction, and how the shame around the word lonely keeps physicians from ever saying it out loud. She describes the six-week pilot she ran with 20 physician moms and what made the matches work. Press play for the specific moves she recommends, starting with the reason that waiting until you feel less busy never works.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Not all PTSD is the same, and the difference decides the treatment

Surgical training still runs on the model it did decades ago. Everything around it has changed. Danny Goel walks you through what that mismatch costs. He is an orthopedic surgeon, and this episode is based on his article "In 2026, the surgical backlog has a training bottleneck [https://kevinmd.com/2026/09/in-2026-the-surgical-backlog-has-a-training-bottleneck.html]," published on KevinMD. You will hear why he counts surgeons themselves as a constraint on capacity, alongside operating rooms, beds, and funding, once residents have shorter hours in the hospital, operating rooms are under pressure to be efficient, and cases move to outpatient centers. He explains why cadaver labs, single-purpose simulators, and industry-funded courses have not closed the gap, and why graduates now add fellowship years on top of residency. He describes the simulation company he co-founded, which puts residents in a virtual operating room where mistakes carry no cost. He also tells patients exactly what to ask a surgeon. Stay to the end for his warning that exposure is not competence.

This episode is brought to you by ModMed [https://www.modmed.com/].

Welcome to your new AI-Powered Practice from ModMed. We're transforming specialty care by embedding AI Assistants across your entire workflow. Our all-in-one platform of EHR, patient engagement, practice management, and RCM helps reduce repetitive work while keeping you firmly in control.

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Start building your AI-Powered Practice at modmed.com [https://www.modmed.com/].

VISIT SPONSOR → https://www.modmed.com/

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

Why the surgical backlog starts with how surgeons are trained

You can learn more from watching a patient walk down the hallway than from the rest of the exam. Most exams happen sitting or lying down. Narinder Singh Parhar is an internal medicine physician and founder of Jeeva Health Systems. This episode is based on his article "Musculoskeletal health may be the foundation of prevention [https://kevinmd.com/2026/06/musculoskeletal-health-may-be-the-foundation-of-prevention.html]," published on KevinMD. After nearly 40 years in practice, he argues that medicine poured decades of investment into heart and brain prevention while leaving the musculoskeletal system behind. You will hear what a walk down the hallway reveals about cardiopulmonary reserve, fall risk, and confidence, and the two muscle groups he says everyone overlooks. You will also hear his specific activity prescription, including a backward walk that takes under two minutes. Press play for what he wants asked at every visit, and why he thinks patients are watching your health as closely as you watch theirs.

Partner with me on the KevinMD platform [https://kevinmd.com/kevinmd-influencer-opportunities]. With over three million monthly readers and half a million social media followers, I give you direct access to the doctors and patients who matter most. Whether you need a sponsored article, email campaign, video interview, or a spot right here on the podcast, I offer the trusted space your brand deserves to be heard. Let's work together to tell your story.

PARTNER WITH KEVINMD → https://kevinmd.com/influencer

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

Heart and brain got the investment; the musculoskeletal system did not

Social media's leading physician voice, Kevin Pho, MD, shares the stories of the
many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from. 15
minutes a day. 7 days a week. Welcome to T

The Podcast by KevinMD · Zencastr

The Podcast by KevinMD

Social media's leading physician voice, Kevin Pho, MD, shares the stories of the
many who intersect with our health care system but are rarely heard from. 15
minutes a day. 7 days a week. Welcome to The Podcast by KevinMD.