How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker
By: Offcall
Language: en
Categories: Health, Fitness, Medicine, Science
I built MDCalc 20 years ago because I wanted to save myself and other doctors time and make it easy for them to integrate more evidence into their medical care. Now I’ve launched Offcall to tackle something even bigger: giving doctors back our autonomy — through salary and workload transparency. These ideas shouldn’t be radical…but here we are. I still practice emergency medicine, but I’ve spent my career breaking out of the cookie cutter version of “what a doctor looks like” or “what a doctor’s supposed to do.” That’s why I started How I Doctor: a podcast about the most...
Episodes
Reimagining the Future of Chronic Disease Care, With Cadence CMO Eve Cunningham, MD
Jan 08, 2026Eve Cunningham has spent her career navigating the hard edges of modern medicine from delivering babies and performing gynecologic surgery to leading large health system initiatives and now serving as Chief Medical Officer at Cadence. Along the way, she’s seen firsthand why chronic disease care continues to fail patients despite more data, more technology, and more dashboards than ever before.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Graham Walker sits down with Eve to unpack why clinic-based, episodic care is fundamentally mismatched to conditions like heart failure, diabetes, and hypertension. She explains why early efforts at re...
Duration: 00:38:27Where AI in Medicine Is Actually Headed, with Microsoft’s CMO David Rhew
Jan 01, 2026David Rhew has spent his career at the intersection of frontline medicine and cutting-edge technology. An infectious disease physician by training and now Global Chief Medical Officer at Microsoft, David brings a rare perspective shaped by decades of clinical work, health system leadership, and early research on AI in healthcare.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Graham Walker sits down with David to unpack where AI in medicine is actually headed and why so many clinicians feel frustrated despite using these tools every day. David explains why physicians aren’t afraid of AI itself, but of po...
Duration: 00:38:25Mark Cuban: How I’d Reform Healthcare If I Were in Charge (Re-Release)
Dec 25, 2025Merry Christmas! Today we are re-releasing one of our favorite episode of the year. We'll be back next week with a brand new interview to kickoff 2026.
Mark Cuban is a business mogul, the “Shark” every entrepreneur wants to make a deal with, the former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and, most recently, an online pharmacy CEO. In 2022, Mark co-founded Cost Plus Drugs with the goal of lowering prescription drug prices. The direct-to-consumer company makes generic drugs affordable by cutting pharmacy benefit managers out of the distribution chain. But, once Mark starts talking about tackling the pharmaceutical market, you...
Duration: 01:03:29Eric Topol on Why Doctors Shouldn’t Fear AI — And How It Could Finally Fix Our Broken System
Dec 18, 2025Dr. Eric Topol is one of the most influential voices in modern medicine. Founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and author of Deep Medicine and Super Agers, Eric has spent decades interrogating medical dogma, calling out hype, and pushing the profession toward evidence, prevention, and humanity.
Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Eric for a candid conversation about why physicians shouldn’t fear AI and why when used correctly, it may be one of the most powerful tools we’ve ever had to reduce errors, restore trust, and shift medicine from late-stage treatment to true prevention.
...
Duration: 00:43:40What Doctors Really Think About AI: Here Are the Surprising Findings From Offcall’s 2025 Physicians AI Report
Dec 11, 2025AI is already shaping how physicians practice. And for the release of The 2025 Physicians AI Report, Graham is taking a different kind of episode: a deep-dive mailbag where he answers the questions doctors are actually asking about AI, grounded in one of the largest physician surveys of its kind.
More than 1,000 physicians were polled in this project, and their answers paint a far more nuanced picture than the headlines suggest.
📊 Yes, two-thirds of physicians already use AI every day.
✅ Yes, the majority believe AI can meaningfully reduce administrative burden.
⚠️ And yes, 81% are frustrat...
Duration: 00:44:16The Future of Primary Care Is Independent: How Aledade Helps Doctors Break Free From Employed Medicine with Dr. Umar Bowers and Dan Bowles
Dec 04, 2025Independent primary care isn’t a relic of the past — it’s becoming the future of American medicine.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with two leaders helping drive that shift: Dr. Umar Bowers, an internist who left a major health system to build the practice he always envisioned, and Dan Bowles, General Manager of Practice Health at Aledade , the physician-led company enabling thousands of doctors to stay independent, financially stable, and clinically autonomous.
Umar shares his personal journey from rising frustration inside a large employed medical group to opening Dawson...
Duration: 00:41:23Thank You, Doctors! A Thanksgiving Highlight Reel from Mark Cuban, Shiv Rao, Danielle Ofri and More
Nov 27, 2025This Thanksgiving, we’re pressing pause on the chaos of clinical life to honor the physicians, nurses, and healthcare workers who keep showing up tired, hopeful, frustrated,and inspired.
In this special “Best Of” episode, Dr. Graham Walker revisits five conversations that have sparked the most messages, DMs, forwarded links, and late-night reflection from our listeners. These clips come from leaders who’ve helped all of us re-examine the work, the system, and ourselves:
Featured Episodes & Links
Dr. Shiv Rao is a cardiologist, entrepreneur, and the CEO and co-founder of Abridge, the physician-founded AI compan...
Duration: 00:34:54Building Decision Support AI That Doctors Truly Love and Trust, with Evidently's Dr. Kalie Dove-Maguire
Nov 20, 2025Dr. Kalie Dove-Maguire is an emergency physician, health-tech leader, and the President and Chief Product Officer at Evidently — a physician-founded company building clinical decision support tools designed to earn trust, not replace judgment. After years on the frontlines, Kalie saw firsthand how critical information gets lost in the noise, how clinicians compensate for broken workflows, and how better tools could prevent avoidable harm. That realization ultimately pushed her from the ER to the product world, where she now designs AI systems that surface the right data, cite their sources, and respect the mental work only clinicians can do.
...
Duration: 00:37:56The Physician AI Conversation: How Doctors Can Drive the AI Era in Medicine Forward with Abridge CEO Dr. Shiv Rao
Nov 13, 2025Dr. Shiv Rao is a cardiologist, entrepreneur, and the CEO and co-founder of Abridge, the physician-founded AI company transforming how clinical conversations become care. Built on the belief that healthcare is about people, not paperwork, Abridge is now embedded in more than 200 major health systems, processing millions of encounters each week and helping doctors reconnect with the meaning of their work.
In this special in-person episode, How I Doctor host Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Shiv for an unfiltered, wide-ranging conversation about the rise of AI in medicine, the moral crisis facing clinicians, and what it...
Duration: 00:50:54A Rare Look Inside Epic's Vision for Physicians' Future With CMO Dr. Jackie Gerhart
Nov 06, 2025Dr. Jackie Gerhart is a family physician, clinical informaticist, and Chief Medical Officer at Epic — the company whose software powers much of American healthcare. From ambient documentation and AI scribes to patient-facing AI assistants like Emmy, Epic is now redefining how data, technology, and the human touch coexist in clinical care.
Few physicians have seen this evolution from the inside and even fewer have helped shape it.
In this episode of How I Doctor, host Dr. Graham Walker talks with Jackie about Epic’s internal culture, its push to make the EHR invisible, and the compa...
Duration: 00:46:41Should Doctors Unionize? The Story of Why Physicians at Salem Hospital Joined a Union to Take Back Power with Dr. Sean Codier
Oct 30, 2025We're releasing a Physicians AI Whitepaper and need your help!
Calling all MDs: Help us shape the future of what AI looks like in medicine. Participate Here!
Dr. Sean Codier is an emergency physician at Salem Hospital within Mass General Brigham and one of the leaders behind the first successful physician unionization effort in the system’s history. What started as frustration over understaffing, overcrowding, and a lack of voice in patient-care decisions grew into a movement that’s now inspiring doctors nationwide to organize for change.
In this episode of How I Doct...
Duration: 00:42:16Why Women Physicians Still Earn Less — and What We Can Do About It With Dr. Vineet Arora
Oct 23, 2025Dr. Vineet Arora is the Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago and one of the nation’s leading voices on equity, leadership, and physician well-being. Her groundbreaking research has exposed how gender bias and pay inequity continue to shape medicine—from how residents are evaluated to how faculty are promoted and paid. But more importantly, she’s focused on what can be done about it.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Dr. Arora about why women physicians still earn less than their male peers—and the systemic, cultural, and pers...
Duration: 00:41:23Breaking Free from W-2 Medicine: The Physician’s Guide to Locum Tenens with Dr. Ali Chaudhary
Oct 16, 2025Dr. Ali Chaudhary is an emergency physician, entrepreneur, and one of the leading voices helping doctors reclaim control over their careers. After leaving a traditional W-2 job, he built Locums United and LocumOS - two platforms designed to bring transparency, fairness, and autonomy to how physicians are staffed and compensated. Having lived both sides of medicine, Ali shares how locum tenens work can transform burnout into balance and turn short-term contracts into long-term career freedom.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Ali about what really happens when doctors leave the W-2...
Duration: 00:39:47The Future of Emergency Medicine: Dr. Alison Haddock on Physician Empowerment, Unionization, and Survival in the ED
Oct 09, 2025Dr. Alison Haddock is an emergency physician, educator, and past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). She’s spent her career fighting for physician autonomy and building a sustainable future for emergency medicine. One where doctors aren’t just surviving shift to shift, but leading the systems that shape their work. A national voice on policy and workforce reform, Dr. Haddock has seen firsthand how crowding, violence, and financial pressure are pushing ER physicians to their breaking point and what it will take to bring them back.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr...
Duration: 00:29:29Escaping Physician Exploitation: Private Practice, Pay Transparency, and Entrepreneurship with Dr. Brian Dixon
Oct 02, 2025Dr. Brian Dixon is a psychiatrist, entrepreneur, and one of the boldest physician voices pushing for salary transparency and fairness in medicine. He’s the founder of Simply Psych and Mindful, and he’s built his career by pulling back the curtain on contracts, compensation, and the hidden math of how health systems profit off physicians. With radical honesty, he shares not just his wins but also his mistakes—showing doctors the real trade-offs between employment, private practice, and entrepreneurship.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Brian about why most contracts are de...
Duration: 00:41:20How Two ER Doctors Created the Top Clinical Tool for Physicians: The Origins of MDCalc with Dr. Joe Habboushe
Sep 25, 2025This episode is sponsored by Abridge - the leading AI platform that drafts structured, clinically useful notes at the point of conversation.
MDCalc turns 20 this year. What began as a scrappy side project in med school grew - without outside funding - into one of the most-used, most-trusted clinical references in the world. In this episode of How I Doctor, host Dr. Graham Walker sits down with his co-founder Dr. Joe Habboushe - an emergency physician, math nerd in the best sense, and relentless advocate for evidence-based care - to unpack how MDCalc was built, why clinicians...
Duration: 00:36:30From Hospital Insider to Physician Advocate: How Ethan Nkana Switched Sides to Champion Doctors’ Voices
Sep 18, 2025Ethan Nkana spent over a decade as a hospital executive negotiating contracts on behalf of health systems. He knew the inside playbook: how administrators calculated physician value, what mantras they used behind closed doors, and the quiet ways hospitals exploited physician professionalism. Then he switched sides.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Ethan to explore medicine’s hidden business realities. From the stigma of being called “greedy,” to why the squeaky wheel gets the raise, Ethan unpacks how contracts are really written and how doctors can speak up without jeopardizing their c...
Duration: 00:40:11Medicine’s Broken Promises: Dr. Danielle Ofri on Greed, Trust, and Why the System Survives on Exploiting Clinicians
Sep 11, 2025Dr. Danielle Ofri is an internist at Bellevue Hospital, clinical professor at NYU, and one of the most widely read physician-writers of our time. Through her books, essays, and New York Times op-eds, she has given voice to the emotional realities of medical work and exposed the ways the business of healthcare exploits the professionalism of doctors and nurses. Her clarity and candor have made her a trusted guide for physicians who feel the weight of a system that too often prioritizes profit over patient care.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits...
Duration: 00:38:43Longevity Doctor Reveals The Truth About Supplements, Multivitamins, Biohacking, And More with Dr. Hillary Lin
Sep 04, 2025Dr. Hillary Lin is a Stanford-trained internist and longevity entrepreneur who is cutting through the hype to bring evidence-based clarity to one of medicine’s buzziest frontiers. As co-founder and CEO of Carecore and host of The Longevity Show, she’s built her career at the intersection of clinical skepticism and innovation, challenging what’s real and what physicians need to know about this fast-growing space.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Hillary to unpack the science of longevity medicine. From the pillars that actually work to the overhyped products floodi...
Duration: 00:36:12Surviving Medicine’s Hidden Trauma: How Dr. Gita Pensa’s Malpractice Lawsuit Became a Blueprint for Helping Other Doctors
Aug 28, 2025Dr. Gita Pensa is an emergency physician and nationally recognized advocate who knows firsthand the toll malpractice takes on doctors. After enduring a 12-year legal battle that included two jury trials, she emerged determined to break the silence around litigation and its hidden impact on physicians’ identity, mental health, and careers. Today, she uses her story to teach colleagues how to survive what she calls medicine’s “second trauma.”
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Gita about the day she was served, the years she spent fighting in court, and how that exp...
Duration: 00:36:51No Insurance Needed! Same Day Appointments! Unlimited Visits! Pay Whatever You Can! How Dr. Paulius Mui Is Reinventing Primary Care to Put Patients First
Aug 21, 2025Dr. Paulius Mui is a family physician, technologist, and community builder who refuses to fit into a single box. Instead of choosing between clinic shifts and tech projects, he’s built a portfolio career that blends patient care, experimentation, and creativity. Most recently, Paulius is reimagining what primary care looks like by launching a direct primary care practice that lets patients pay what they can.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Paulius about why full-time primary care has become nearly impossible and why he has decided to choose mission over money fo...
Duration: 00:37:24What Happens When a Pediatrician Takes On Congress - Dr. Annie Andrews on Turning Clinical Advocacy into Political Action
Aug 14, 2025Dr. Annie Andrews is a pediatric hospitalist, public health advocate, and U.S. Senate candidate in South Carolina taking on incumbent Lindsey Graham. Known for her unapologetic advocacy for children’s health, Annie has spent over 15 years caring for sick and injured kids, only to realize that many of their challenges stemmed from broken policies far upstream of the hospital. From gun violence prevention to protecting Medicaid, she’s made it her mission to bring a physician’s voice into the rooms where decisions are made and to speak with a candor rarely heard in politics.
In this e...
Duration: 00:30:43Doctors Can’t Stay Silent Anymore: Why Shoshana Ungerleider Is Calling on Clinicians to Speak Out
Aug 07, 2025Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician, a public health advocate, and one of the most trusted voices translating science for the real world. Whether she’s hosting th TED Health podcast, advising Netflix on end-of-life storytelling, or calling out hype and misinformation in the media, her work is reshaping how clinicians show up at the bedside and in the public square.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Shoshana about the skill every physician needs but few are taught: communication. They explore how bias shows up in clinical encounters, why do...
Duration: 00:31:33From Rural ER Doc to the Governor’s Mansion: How Hawaii Gov. Josh Green Is Rewriting the Rules of Public Health
Jul 31, 2025Dr. Josh Green is an emergency physician who’s done what many doctors only talk about. He’s taken a seat at the table and turned it into a platform for real change. After two decades practicing rural medicine in Hawaii and witnessing firsthand the systemic failures that lead to poor outcomes, he ran for office in his scrubs - and won. Today, as Governor of Hawaii, he’s applying the triage mindset of emergency medicine to some of the most complex public health and policy problems of our time, from homelessness and housing to climate change, Medicaid reform, and AI...
Duration: 00:41:14Why Health Tech Needs More Clinicians at the Table, And on the Cap Table! With Scrub Capital's Rebecca Mitchell
Jul 24, 2025Rebecca Mitchell is a physician, product strategist, and founding partner at Scrub Capital - a new kind of venture fund built from first principles to fix what’s broken in health tech investing. Alongside her co-founders, Rebecca is working to make sure that healthcare startups aren’t just built for clinicians, they’re built with them.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Rebecca about why it’s time to give clinicians more power. Not just at the bedside, but on the cap table. They dive into how Scrub Capital is supporting over 800...
Duration: 00:35:14The RVU Trap: How Hospitals Use Productivity Metrics to Keep Physicians in the Dark, with Contract Attorney Dennis Hursh
Jul 17, 2025Attorney Dennis Hursh has reviewed more than 3,500 physician contracts and has seen the same patterns again and again - doctors being underpaid, overworked, and legally trapped by language they didn’t know to question.
In this episode, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Dennis about how RVUs and non-competes are often used against physicians, and how to push back. They dive into the structural imbalance between hospitals and physicians, the myths of “standard contracts,” and the silent clauses that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
From shocking stories of RVU misreporting to seven-figure locums arbitra...
Duration: 00:44:10Innovation and AI-Driven Healthcare, with MD Entrepreneur Dr. Jay Parkinson
Jul 10, 2025Dr. Jay Parkinson is a pediatrician and founder who’s been reinventing healthcare from the outside in for nearly two decades. From launching one of the first tech-enabled house call services in Brooklyn to pioneering virtual primary care with Sherpaa, Jay has always believed that doctors can design better systems. Now he’s back with Automate Clinic, a new venture training physicians to fine-tune clinical AI models with real-world judgment and insight.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Jay about bucking the traditional medical career path, designing more human-centered systems, and what...
Duration: 00:42:59FTEs, RVUs, PSLF...WTF? Everything You Were Never Taught to Become a Successful Doctor with Dr. Ami DeWaters
Jul 03, 2025Dr. Ami DeWaters is a hospitalist, medical educator, and one of the leading voices reimagining how we prepare residents for the realities of modern medicine. She’s an associate professor at Penn State College of Medicine that’s known for her sharp insights and deep commitment to building physicians who are not just clinically excellent, but also financially, professionally, and systemically fluent.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Ami about the disconnect between what doctors are taught and what they actually need to succeed. From FTEs and RVUs to PSLF and prio...
Duration: 00:44:49Young Doctors Need to Be Willing to Make the Ultimate Sacrifice with Congressman Greg Murphy
Jun 26, 2025Dr. Greg Murphy is a practicing urologist and four-term Republican Congressman representing North Carolina’s third district—and the only physician in Congress who still actively sees patients, entirely pro bono. Before entering politics, he served as an affiliate professor, urology group president, and chief of staff at a Level 1 trauma center in Greenville, NC. These days, he’s sounding the alarm about what he sees as a crisis in the medical profession: a generation of young doctors who, in his view, are losing their sense of calling.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker...
Duration: 00:43:54Why Medical Education Is Broken, And How We Can Fix It with Dr. Paul Tran
Jun 19, 2025Dr. Paul Tran is a pediatric gastroenterologist, award-winning medical educator, and the creator behind Alimentary School — an online platform using storytelling, mentorship, and dad jokes to make medicine more human. He’s on a mission to break down outdated hierarchies and rebuild medical education around trust, real-time feedback, and genuine connection.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Paul about what’s broken in medical training and how we can actually fix it. With warmth and wit, Paul explains why seeing students as “just students” undermines patient care, how virtual interviews and pass/fail...
Duration: 00:38:31We're Sharing AI Secrets for Clinicians
Jun 12, 2025The world of medicine is entering a new era. One where AI isn’t just a buzzword, but a daily presence in the lives of physicians. That’s why Offcall recently hosted a live webinar We're Sharing AI Secrets for Clinicians, featuring Dr. Graham Walker, ER physician and co-founder of Offcall, and Dr. Sarah Gebauer, anesthesiologist and founder of Valara Health. Longtime friends and Stanford med classmates.
Their goal? Demystify AI for busy clinicians and provide practical tools to navigate this moment of transformation. Not in five years, but right now. Throughout the session, Graham and Sarah unpa...
Duration: 00:37:26Nurses Know How to Fix Healthcare, So Why Are They Left Out of the Room? with Shawna Butler, RN
Jun 05, 2025Shawna Butler is a nurse, economist, and creator of the EntrepreNURSE movement — but above all, she’s a force for rethinking how healthcare systems are built and who gets a say.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Shawna about what we lose when we treat nurses like costs instead of collaborators. They unpack the deep roots of burnout and moral injury, explore why innovation often fails without frontline input, and ask a radical but overdue question: what if nurse wellbeing were a quality metric?
It’s a bold conversation about...
Duration: 00:34:26This 2x Founder Did Something Radical: He Listened to Doctors Before Building Anything With Aniq Rahman
May 29, 2025Aniq Rahman is a two-time tech founder, but when he turned his attention to healthcare he did something most disruptors don’t - he shut up and listened. Aniq embedded himself in hospitals, shadowed physicians, and absorbed the daily frustrations that don’t show up in EMR logs or admin dashboards.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Aniq about what he learned by watching before building, and how that humility shaped his approach to transforming healthcare with Fabric. They dig into what’s broken in the current system, why software often makes...
Duration: 00:39:48Confessions from a Mid-Career Physician: Why It’s Okay to Want More Than Medicine with Dr. Kaveh Hoda
May 22, 2025Dr. Kaveh Hoda is a practicing gastroenterologist and longtime podcaster. He’s part of a cohort of doctors who trained on paper charts, watched the rise of EHRs, and now find themselves navigating mid-career questions that older generations rarely asked. Questions about purpose, burnout, and identity beyond the white coat.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Kaveh about what it means to hit your clinical stride and still feel a pull toward something more. They unpack the hidden costs of professionalism, the subtle slide from skepticism into cynicism, and the permission ev...
Duration: 00:31:42The Future of Primary Care Is Independence And It’s More Lucrative Than You Think with Dr. Farzad Mostashari
May 15, 2025Dr. Farzad Mostashari is the former National Coordinator for Health IT, the CEO and co-founder of Aledade, and a longtime champion for independent primary care. He’s spent his career trying to answer one question: how do we fix American healthcare by paying doctors to prevent illness—not just treat it? In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Farzad to unpack the financial forces behind physician burnout, the byzantine mess of incentives driving consolidation, and why empowering small, independent practices could be the key to turning it all around.
They talk abou...
Duration: 00:40:07How Medicine Is Failing Women Doctors, And What We Can Do to Fight Back with Dr. Tiffany Moon
May 05, 2025Dr. Tiffany Moon is a board-certified anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, mother of twins, and former cast member on The Real Housewives of Dallas. She is a deeply thoughtful physician who is working to reclaim joy in a system that often seems designed to extinguish it.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Tiffany about her journey through burnout, perfectionism, and the pressures that push so many women out of medicine. With humor and honesty, she unpacks what it means to build a meaningful life inside and outside the hospital walls.
They discuss...
Duration: 00:39:46Harvard Cardiologist Reveals What Doctors Never Learn in Training About Careers, Contracts, and Building a Life Outside Medicine with Dr. Sanjay Divakaran
May 01, 2025Dr. Sanjay Divakaran is a cardiologist, educator, and Associate Chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He’s also one of the most thoughtful voices when it comes to guiding the next generation of physicians. Not just in clinical medicine, but in career strategy, mentorship, and personal growth.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Sanjay to explore the hidden curriculum of medicine. What is the essential career advice doctors rarely receive in training? From how to choose the right mentors, to understanding how your job performance will actually be measured, to w...
Duration: 00:36:46Former Epic Doctor Says the System Is Designed to Fail Physicians
Apr 24, 2025Dr. Craig Joseph is a pediatrician, informaticist, and the Chief Medical Officer at Nordic Global. He’s also the author of Designing for Health and a former Epic employee, with decades of experience at the intersection of clinical care and health IT.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Craig about what’s actually broken in American healthcare — and why blaming the EHR is often missing the point. They dive into the messy realities of health system design, the unintended consequences of bad tech workflows, and why true innovation in medicine will only c...
Duration: 00:32:32Physician Contract Lawyer: No Other Profession Has It As Bad As Doctors! Here Are the Most Insane Clauses In Doctors’ Contracts and Why Every Physician Needs to Renegotiate Them!
Apr 17, 2025Michael Johnson is an attorney and the founder of Michael Johnson Legal, a firm that works exclusively with physicians and physician groups to review contracts, negotiate fair compensation, and protect career freedom.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Michael to unpack one of the most overlooked yet high-stakes parts of practicing medicine: the employment contract. Together, they explore why doctors receive little to no training in negotiation, how “standard” contract clauses can be career-ending, and why more physicians need to challenge the status quo at the start of their careers as w...
Duration: 00:43:51Most Shared Episodes: These 4 Physicians Are Fighting to Save Medicine and Give Doctors Their Power Back! -- Dr. Glaucomflecken, Dr. Eric Bricker, Dr. Elisabeth Potter, Dr. Jim Dahle
Apr 10, 2025Last week’s interview with Mark Cuban generated a huge response — thank you to everyone who listened, commented on, or shared the episode.
New guests will debut next week, but this week, we’ve rounded up some of the show’s most inspiring and thought-provoking moments to date to help all the new listeners get acquainted with How I Doctor and Offcall’s mission. The four physicians featured in this episodes are examples of MD leaders who are using their voices to improve the healthcare system. Their insights will push you to think about medicine differently:
Dr. Will Fl... Duration: 00:43:19Mark Cuban: How I’d Reform Healthcare If I Were in Charge
Apr 03, 2025Mark Cuban is a business mogul, the “Shark” every entrepreneur wants to make a deal with, the former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and, most recently, an online pharmacy CEO. In 2022, Mark co-founded Cost Plus Drugs with the goal of lowering prescription drug prices. The direct-to-consumer company makes generic drugs affordable by cutting pharmacy benefit managers out of the distribution chain. But, once Mark starts talking about tackling the pharmaceutical market, you get the sense he has his sights set on an even bigger goal: reforming the healthcare system at large.
Offcall co-founder Graham Walker recently got the c...
Duration: 00:59:55It’s Time for Physicians To Fight Back Against Insurance Companies To Save Our Practice With Dr. Elisabeth Potter
Mar 27, 2025Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a plastic surgeon and practice owner in Austin, Texas, who specializes in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. In January, Elisabeth made waves on social media when she posted a video about UnitedHealthcare calling her during surgery, pulling her out of the OR to explain why her patient — who was already under anesthesia — needed to stay in the hospital overnight.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Elisabeth about dealing with absurd coverage requirements, calling out insurance companies for undermining patient care, and being the “face of medicine” in today’s c...
Duration: 00:37:04Banks Rejected Me in Residency - So I Started My Own Bank for Doctors with Dr. Michael Jerkins
Mar 20, 2025Dr. Michael Jerkins is a meds-peds physician and the co-founder of Panacea Financial, a financial services company for doctors. After being rejected for multiple loans during residency, Michael realized that traditional banks were failing doctors as customers. So, he created a bank that understands the unique financial struggles and goals of the medical community.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Michael about why doctors need their own bank and how Panacea has evolved since its launch to meet the needs of physicians (and eventually other clinician groups). They also e...
Duration: 00:30:41Physician CEO: PBMs Are Ruining Healthcare! I Quit Full-Time Medicine to Start a Company ... So I Could Fight the Drug Industry Head-On!
Mar 13, 2025Dr. Simon Chang is a hospitalist and the CEO and co-founder of eNavvi, an online pharmacy platform. Since finishing his residency in 2022, Simon has been a part-time physician, splitting his time between clinical care and entrepreneurship.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Simon about building a career in medicine and a pharma-tech company at the same time, interacting with other physicians as both angel investors and product users, and partnering with like-minded companies including Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. Simon explains why he set his entrepreneurial sights on pre...
Duration: 00:20:40I Made Myself Sick Working Back-to-Back 20-Hour Shifts in Residency. How Burned-Out Doctors Can Find Our Creativity Again with The Nocsturnist’s Dr. Emily Silverman
Mar 06, 2025Dr. Emily Silverman is a practicing internist and the founder of The Nocturnists, a groundbreaking podcast that amplifies the raw, deeply human stories of healthcare workers.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker sits down with Dr. Silverman to discuss her personal experience with burnout, the systemic flaws in medicine that drive physician exhaustion, and how storytelling can serve as a powerful tool for healing and connection. She shares how her own journey — from back-to-back 20-hour shifts in residency leading to a devastating health crisis — sparked her passion for rethinking medical culture and supporting fello...
Duration: 00:30:02AI Tools for Doctors: Fact vs. Fiction with Dr. Spencer Dorn
Feb 27, 2025Dr. Spencer Dorn, a gastroenterologist, informatics physician, and professor at UNC, is passionate about the intersection of technology and healthcare. Spencer, who frequently writes about AI for Forbes, is helping to shape the conversation around real-world applications of AI in medicine, and how AI can complement (rather than replace) physicians.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Spencer — his longtime friend — about how AI is being used in medicine now, and where it has the most potential going forward. Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools have been part of healthcare for...
Duration: 00:25:52Why I Chose Direct Primary Care with Dr. Kenneth Qiu
Feb 20, 2025Dr. Kenneth Qiu is a family medicine physician and the founder of EuDoc, a direct primary care practice in Virginia. Kenneth brings a fresh perspective, having taken the bold step of starting his own practice right out of residency.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Kenneth about the state of primary care and why he believes a direct care model has advantages over insurance-based care. Kenneth also discusses launching and marketing his practice, the specific challenges of family medicine, and the importance of having humility as a physician. This s...
Duration: 00:14:57Finding Your Physician Voice With Dr. Darien Sutton
Feb 13, 2025Dr. Darien Sutton is an emergency physician, correspondent for ABC News, and doctor-influencer with over 2 million followers on TikTok. Darien uses his platforms to educate the public, combat misinformation, and advocate for a more equitable healthcare system.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Darien about the value of teaching patients health literacy, the importance of doctors looking like their patients, and Darien’s shift from full-time physician to media figure. Darien weighs in on physician pay transparency (we need more of it) and the new specialty he’d invent (doct...
Duration: 00:22:25Finding Your Calling with Dr. Kai Romero
Feb 06, 2025Dr. Kai Romero is an emergency and palliative care physician who recently became the head of clinical success at Evidently, a cognitive AI platform powered by clinical data. Previously, Kai worked at By the Bay Health, where she began as a hospice physician before moving into a leadership role as chief medical officer.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Kai about her journey from those adrenaline-fueled days in the emergency room to the compassionate and complex world of palliative care. Kai discusses why she made the jump, how the t...
Duration: 00:19:55Dodge Financial Predators With White Coat Investor Founder Jim Dahle
Jan 30, 2025Jim Dahle is an emergency medicine doctor in Utah — but you probably know him as the founder of The White Coast Investor, a trusted destination for personal finance guidance for physicians. Jim provides clear, actionable advice about dealing with debt, building wealth, and other aspects of money management. Since launching his blog in 2011, Jim has expanded the White Coat Investor brand to include books, a podcast, conferences and online communities — all centered around the financial lives of doctors.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Jim about starting the White Coat I...
Duration: 00:28:18Stop Calling It Physician “Burnout” With Oncologist Hardeep Phull
Jan 23, 2025Dr. Hardeep Phull is an oncologist at the Palomar Health Medical Group and an alumni specialty director at the Cleveland Clinic. Known for his outspoken views on physician burnout, particularly in oncology, Hardeep is a forceful advocate for doctors getting what they’re worth. He’s a leading physician voice on LinkedIn, where his honest insights about the good and bad of practicing medicine reliably spark conversation.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Hardeep about his journey in medicine, why burnout should be reframed as moral injury, and why this...
Duration: 00:27:39Landing Your First Non-Clinical Job with Dr. Phil DiGiacomo
Jan 16, 2025Dr. Phil DiGiacomo is an emergency physician who made the tough choice to leave clinical practice a few years ago. Today, he’s the National Medicare Medical Director at the health insurance company Humana, as well as an advocate for physicians in search of non-clinical roles. He created an online course to help doctors make career transitions, which is available on his website.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker talks with Phil about why Phil decided to change jobs, how he found a new career three years ago, and the tradeoffs of...
Duration: 00:33:02Charting Your Own Career Path in Academic Medicine with Dr. Resa Lewiss
Jan 09, 2025Dr. Resa Lewiss is an emergency physician, academic leader, and pioneer in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), with an impressive career spanning traditional academic roles and innovative ventures.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Resa joins Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker to discuss how she’s managed to enjoy a fulfilling and non-traditional career in academic medicine and her advice to other physicians about breaking the standard mold and charting your own path. Resa shares her most important lessons learned:
The Power of MentorshipBeing Willing to Change Institutions to Get PromotedEmbracing Publishing in Non-Traditional OutletsFo...
Duration: 00:23:35Advance Your Career with Dr. Glenn Loomis - Part 3 Interviews
Jan 04, 2025Dr. Glenn Loomis is a seasoned healthcare leader with decades of experience as a physician, residency director, medical group president, and health system executive.
In this special three-part series of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker and Glenn discuss the ways physicians can maximize their earnings and start getting paid fairly. This third and final episode provides a four-step roadmap to ensure physicians make informed and confident decisions about their next role.
Carefully Evaluate If the Job Fits Your CriteriaBe Strategic and Consistent in the Questions You AskDo Your Due DiligenceTrust Your Gut<... Duration: 00:13:20
Negotiation Tips with Dr. Glenn Loomis - Part 2 Contracts
Jan 03, 2025Dr. Glenn Loomis is a seasoned healthcare leader with decades of experience as a physician, residency director, medical group president, and health system executive.
In this special three-part series of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker and Glenn discuss the ways physicians can maximize their earnings and start getting paid fairly. This second episode digs deeper into employment contracts and the critical role they play in defining a physician’s career path, compensation, and working conditions. This episode outlines the four things every physician should know when evaluating or renegotiating a contract:
The Purpose of... Duration: 00:15:49Getting Paid Fairly with Dr. Glenn Loomis - Part 1 RVUs
Jan 02, 2025Dr. Glenn Loomis is a seasoned healthcare leader with decades of experience as a physician, residency director, medical group president, and health system executive.
In this special three-part series of How I Doctor, Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker and Glenn discuss the ways physicians can maximize their earnings and start getting paid fairly. This first episode examines the Relative Value Unit (RVU) system and details the four things every physician needs to understand about RVUs:
Why RVUs ExistHow RVUs Differ from Other Compensation ModelsHow to Ensure Fair Pay with RVUsUnderstanding Conversion Factors in RVU-Based Pay<... Duration: 00:17:46
Achieving Prior Auth Reform in NJ with Dr. Tina Shah
Dec 26, 2024Dr. Tina Shah is an intensivist based in New Jersey and a formidable expert in workforce wellbeing, digital health, and healthcare policy. By mobilizing a coalition of physicians, patients, and allies, she successfully led an effort to enact new legislation in New Jersey that promises to streamline the prior authorization process in 2025, potentially saving countless hours and improving patient care.
Physicians often find themselves caught in a cycle of endless paperwork and administrative tasks, leaving little time for advocacy. But what if they could channel that frustration into meaningful change?
In this new episode of H...
Duration: 00:16:29Dr. Glaucomflecken Is on a Mission to Restore Power to Physicians
Dec 19, 2024Dr. Will Flanary, better known by his online persona Dr. Glaucomflecken, is an ophthalmologist, comedian, and one of the most prominent social media voices in medicine today. His experience as both a patient and a physician has given him a unique lens on what’s broken in our healthcare system, and now he’s using his gift of humor to help advocate for powerful changes.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker, co-founder of Offcall and an emergency physician in San Francisco, speaks with Will about his dual career as a content creator and a pr...
Duration: 00:34:14Make more money as a physician with Dr. Eric Bricker
Dec 12, 2024Dr. Eric Bricker is the founder of the popular YouTube channel AHealthcareZ, where he breaks down complex healthcare and financial topics using his signature whiteboard style. In 2018, he sold his business and started making videos to provide straight talk to fellow physicians on healthcare and financial issues.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker, Co-founder of Offcall, talks with Eric about how physicians can better navigate the complex world of healthcare finance. They discuss some practical tips for physicians, from boosting their income by switching jobs to advocating for themselves and even unionizing, and al...
Duration: 00:23:12Tackling Physician Burnout with Dr. Tina Shah
Dec 05, 2024Dr. Tina Shah is an intensivist based in New Jersey and a formidable expert in workforce wellbeing, digital health, and healthcare policy. Tina served in pivotal roles across two White House administrations where her deep understanding of physician burnout and relentless advocacy for clinician wellbeing made her a leading voice in this critical conversation.
In this new episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker, Offcall co-founder, speaks with Tina about the high expectations placed on healthcare professionals, the systemic issues contributing to burnout, and the practical solutions that exist, including the revolutionary potential of AI.
<... Duration: 00:22:38Build a Profitable Newsletter Business with Dr Jared Deshevsky
Dec 05, 2024Dr. Jared Dashevsky started Healthcare Huddle in medical school when he realized that many of his classmates didn’t understand important concepts like insurance reimbursement and PBMs.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker, Offcall co-founder, and Jared discuss the growth of Healthcare Huddle, a newsletter that reaches over 20,000 healthcare professionals. Jared shares his journey as a physician-entrepreneur and breaks down three keys to building a profitable newsletter business:
1. Lean into your clinical skills as a competitive advantage
2. Pursue partnerships that complement your skills
3. Think deeply about how to...
Duration: 00:23:08Maximizing Physician Wealth with the Founder of Hippocratic Financial
Dec 05, 2024Ravi Davis is the Founder and CEO of Hippocratic Financial, a full-service financial firm that specializes in providing comprehensive financial care for doctors.
In this new episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker, Offcall co-founder, and Ravi discuss the importance of physicians managing their finances effectively. They include some key tips for doctors to apply early in their career to set them up for success, along with a few common investment mistakes that you should avoid.
How I Doctor is a podcast from Offcall, a physician-only platform dedicated to improving their wealth and wellbeing.
... Duration: 00:28:38How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker Trailer
Nov 07, 2024Our first 3 episodes featuring Dr. Jared Dashevsky, Ravi Davis, and Dr. Tina Shah launch on December 5 with new episodes publishing every Thursday.
Follow now to never miss an episode.
Welcome to How I Doctor, where we’re bringing joy back to medicine.
Join emergency medicine physician and Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker as he connects with fellow physicians across the country to educate, elevate, and empower fellow doctors by sharing inspiring stories of how to live a fulfilling career.
Each episode highlights a physician guest’s unique journey, providing lessons learned from...
Duration: 00:01:08