
Advertise on podcast: Path Of A Doctor
Rating
5from
This podcast has
72 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
PODExplicit
No
Date created
2020/04/05
Latest episode
2026/10/20
Average duration
20 min.
Release period
7 days
Description
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
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Check latest episodes from Path Of A Doctor podcast
Handling Floor Calls and Thinking On Your Feet In Medicine
2026/10/20
Floor calls are among the most anxiety-provoking parts of every transition in medicine, from clerkship to residency to your first attending job. In this episode, Dr. Z, a practicing hospitalist, walks through a framework for thinking on your feet when the nurse calls and a patient isn't doing well. First, triage by what could kill the patient right now. Next, stabilize before you try to solve the mystery. Then gather information and know when to ask for help.
This one is for premeds, medical students heading into clerkships, residents taking call, and new attendings who want a clear mental model for handling acute issues with incomplete information. You'll learn how to rehearse your top five high-yield scenarios, why vitals are vital, how to lean on nurses and consultants, and how to stay calm by controlling what you can control.
0:00 Why Floor Calls Are So Hard
2:13 Learn to Triage: What Kills Them Now
4:56 Preparation Is Prophylaxis
7:02 Rehearse Your Top Five Scenarios
10:24 Vitals Are Vital: Stabilize First
13:30 Detective Mode and Asking for Help
17:51 Control the Controllable
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How to Teach Med Students and Residents
2026/10/13
Whether you are a senior medical student, a resident, or an attending, at some point you will have learners working alongside you. In this video, I break down what has actually worked for me when teaching medical students and residents: setting clear expectations from day one, teaching clinical reasoning instead of trivia, making it safe to say "I don't know," giving learners real responsibility, and taking them behind the scenes of life in medicine.
This one is for anyone in medicine who supervises, teaches, or mentors someone more junior, and for learners who want to know what a great rotation should look like. Good teaching is how the culture of medicine changes, one rotation at a time.
0:00 Why Teaching Culture Carries Forward
2:47 Set Clear Expectations From Day One
6:14 Teach Clinical Reasoning, Not Trivia
9:37 Make It Okay To Say I Don't Know
11:22 Give Learners Real Responsibility
13:12 Take Them Behind The Scenes
14:56 Final Thoughts
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How to Choose Your Specialty
2026/10/06
Choosing a specialty is one of the biggest decisions you'll make in medicine, and most students weigh the wrong things. In this episode, a practicing hospitalist and walk-in clinic physician skips the match rates and salary tables and shares the thinking frameworks he wishes he'd had: why to prepare for the most competitive specialties early, how to think honestly about money and time to income, and why lifestyle is really about control over your time.
We also go behind the scenes of what specialties look like in real life, from limited OR time to private practice overhead, and why chasing status and prestige is one of the fastest routes to burnout. This is for premeds, medical students, and anyone still deciding where they fit in medicine.
0:00 How Not to Choose Your Specialty
2:13 Prepare for the Most Competitive Specialties
5:07 Money Matters, and That's Okay
9:28 Lifestyle and Control Over Your Time
16:17 The Behind the Scenes of Each Specialty
20:53 Forget Status and Prestige
24:45 Final Thoughts
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: Imposter Syndrome in Medicine
2026/09/29
Imposter syndrome shows up at every stage of becoming a physician, and just when it gets better, the next stage brings it right back. In this episode, I break down why it hits so hard in medicine, from the social media highlight reel to the very real skill gaps between each level of training, and share the practical approaches that actually turn the volume down.
Whether you're a premed looking up at med students, a med student intimidated by residents, a resident watching attendings, or a new attending who feels like they should know everything by now, this one is for you. We cover giving yourself credit, trusting the process, winning the day, building evidence that you belong, and why you're never truly alone in this.
0:00 Why Imposter Syndrome Returns at Every Stage
0:37 The Social Media Comparison Trap
2:16 Real Skill Gaps and Staying in Your Lane
4:56 Giving Yourself Credit
7:31 Trust the Process and Win the Day
10:10 Building Evidence You Belong
11:37 Reps, Resources, and Asking for Help
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How to Survive Your First Year As A Doctor
2026/09/22
Finishing residency doesn't mean your training is over. In this video, I share the advice I wish someone had given me before I became an attending: why your learning really starts once your name is on the chart, why going slow early is a strength, how to make your acute care foundations rock solid, and why resourcefulness, mentors and experienced nurses matter more than anything you memorized.
This one is for senior residents getting ready to transition, new attendings and staff physicians finding their footing, and clinical medical students who want a look at what's ahead. We also cover staying humble at the top of the food chain and remembering that life still exists outside the hospital.
0:00 Intro
1:52 Your Training Is Far From Over
3:43 Go Slow and Prepare Early
5:46 Make Your Foundations Rock Solid
8:18 Resourcefulness, Mentors and Nurses
12:52 Never Lose Your Humility
14:57 Life Outside the Hospital
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How To Be A Healthy Physician (Nutrition, Training And Basics)
2026/09/15
Physicians spend their entire careers managing preventable disease in other people, and a startling number of us are not managing it in ourselves. This episode breaks down the practical system I have used since pre-med to stay healthy through training and now through attending life: how to set calories and macros without turning food into a second job, which supplements are actually worth the money, why intermittent fasting changed my cognitive output at the hospital more than it changed my body, and how to build a training routine you will still be doing in ten years.
This is for pre-meds, medical students, residents and attendings at any fitness level, including people who have never set foot in a gym. It covers what nobody teaches you in medical school, the mistakes I made chasing an aesthetic goal the wrong way, and how to scale all of it to the stage of training and the budget you are actually in right now.
0:00 Why Physician Health Gets Neglected
2:23 Why Your Degree No Longer Convinces Patients
4:58 Nutrition Basics: Calories And Macros
11:53 The 80/20 Rule And Why Perfection Backfires
14:58 Supplements And Intermittent Fasting
18:42 Training, Compound Lifts And Progressive Overload
26:04 Making It Work At Every Career Stage
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Relationship Advice For Doctors And Healthcare Workers
2026/09/08
Medicine trains you for almost everything except the part of your life that happens after you leave the building. This episode covers relationships in medicine: how to actually meet people when your schedule is hostile to it, how to hold a relationship together through the busiest stretches of training, and the ego problem that quietly destroys more of these relationships than any call schedule ever has.
This is for premeds, medical students, residents and attendings, and it applies whether you are looking for a partner or just trying to build real friendships as an adult. None of this is expert advice. It is what I have noticed in my own life, what has worked for me, and the same patterns showing up over and over in conversations with friends and colleagues.
0:00 Why Relationships In Medicine Are Different
1:15 People Are Just People
3:17 Do Not Make Medicine Your Identity
4:21 Increasing Your Surface Area Of Luck
7:39 Values, Standards And Dating At Work
10:16 Clarity When You Are Busy
12:23 Leaving Work At Work
14:42 The Superiority Complex
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How To Spend Your Money
2026/09/01
Medicine trains you for a decade and never once teaches you what to do with the money at the end of it. There is no class on how much you will earn, how to spend it, or where it actually makes a difference. So most physicians end up at one of two extremes, either driving a new BMW off the lot in first year or still carrying a broken phone ten years into practice.
This episode covers the five categories where I have found spending actually pays off: health and wellness, buying back your time, technology and anything that reduces friction, one purchase that makes no rational sense but means everything to you, and charity. It is aimed at residents, new attendings, and anyone about to start earning a physician income for the first time.
0:00 Why Nobody Teaches Doctors About Money
1:54 The Boring Stuff You Still Have To Do
2:52 Spending On Your Health And Wellness
6:15 Buying Your Time Back
9:59 Technology And Anything That Buys You Ease
12:55 Buy Yourself Something Dumb
17:53 Why Charity Matters
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
How to Structure Your Day as a Physician
2026/08/25
Nobody teaches you how to run a day. Medicine teaches you how to run a list, a differential, and a code, then leaves the architecture of your actual twenty-four hours entirely up to you. In this episode I break down the system I use as a locum hospitalist and urgent care physician: how to account for the parts of your day you cannot control, why the hardest task belongs at the front of your morning, and why every important area of your life needs to sit on the calendar with the same weight as your shift.
I also get into the trap most doctors fall into at some point, the belief that being stressed and miserable makes you better at the job. It does not. It makes you a worse physician the next day and it manufactures burnout out of nothing. This one is aimed mostly at attendings, but med students and residents will find plenty that applies, particularly the parts about protecting the rest of your life during the phases when training tries to take all of it.
0:00 Why Your Day Needs Structure
2:08 Start With Your Uncontrollables
3:55 Front-Load the Hard Stuff
6:04 Stop Playing Productivity
7:36 Put Every Area of Your Life on the Calendar
11:20 Be Fully Present
12:58 There Is No Honour in Misery
16:48 Leave Room for Randomness
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: Dealing With Bad Outcomes
2026/08/18
Every physician deals with bad outcomes. A patient codes, deteriorates, suffers a complication from a treatment you started, ends up in the ICU, or dies. It happens in every specialty and in every practice setting, and almost nobody is formally taught how to handle it. In this episode I break down the actual framework: stabilizing what can still be stabilized, asking for help without letting ego get in the way, telling the patient and family the truth directly and without jargon, doing a real post-mortem on the case, and documenting it properly.
I also get into the part that damages careers quietly, which is what you do with the outcome afterward. There is a difference between taking accurate ownership and endlessly guilting yourself for things you had no control over, and there is a difference between learning a lesson and letting one bad case rewrite how you practice for the next decade. This is for medical students, residents, and practicing physicians who want a rational approach to the worst days of the job.
0:00 Why Every Physician Deals With This
0:59 A Bad Outcome Is Not Always Bad Care
3:42 The Patient In Front Of You Comes First
4:27 Asking For Help And Setting Ego Aside
6:47 Telling The Patient And Family The Truth
8:50 Asking Why It Happened And Documenting It
14:46 Applying The Lesson Without Overcorrecting
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor Explains: How To Give Bad News
2026/08/11
Nobody sits you down in medical school or residency and teaches you how to tell a patient that the scan came back with metastatic disease, or how to tell a family that their mother is at the end of her life. You are expected to learn one of the hardest conversations in medicine by watching someone else do it and hoping it sinks in. This episode is the framework I wish somebody had given me as a resident, built from the hospitalist and walk-in side of the job.
We go through the whole conversation start to finish. How to prepare before you walk in, how to control the setting, how to summarize the hospital course, the exact words I use to deliver the news, why the silence afterward matters more than anything you say next, how to lead the plan while handing control back to the patient, and how to carry the emotional weight of it without letting it follow you into the next room. If you are a premed, med student, resident, or newly independent attending, this is the part of the job that clinical knowledge alone will not cover.
0:00 The Patient I Couldn't Talk To
1:27 Why You Can't Make Bad News Painless
3:02 What Patients Actually Hear
5:16 How To Prepare Before The Conversation
8:09 Delivering The News, Word For Word
14:25 Next Steps And Giving Back Control
19:59 How To Carry It Afterward
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Doctor’s Advice: MD vs DO vs International Medical School
2026/08/04
MD versus DO versus Caribbean and international medical schools. Not match rates, not statistics, not the comparison charts you can find anywhere. This episode is about the part nobody says out loud: whether the stigma is real, why it exists, and what you should actually do about it. I got into an MD program locally on my first try, and I still think the selection system is deeply flawed and driven as much by gamesmanship and luck as by anything that predicts a good physician.
If you are a premed who did not get in on the first try, a DO or international student carrying that quiet insecurity, or a resident tired of explaining your path to people who are asking in bad faith, this one is for you. We get into why prestige works as a sorting shortcut for program directors, why medicine attracts comparison culture, the two physicians who permanently changed how I think about this, and why what happens at three in the morning has nothing to do with the paper on your wall.
0:00 The MD vs DO Debate
0:26 Why the System Itself Is Flawed
1:16 Yes, the Stigma Is Real
4:19 Prestige Is the Product
4:59 Stop Caring and Outwork It
7:08 The Job at 3 AM
10:42 Stop Explaining Yourself and Be Undeniable
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
AI Is Coming For Doctors: What To Do About It
2026/07/28
Everyone said radiology would be the first specialty replaced by AI. Years later there are more radiologists than ever. So what is actually happening, and what should physicians do about it right now? In this episode I break down why the older generation of doctors is fighting AI the same way they fought EMRs, why that resistance costs you, and what parts of the job are genuinely at risk.
We break your day down into the nine tasks that actually make up being a physician, look at which ones AI can already do well, and talk through what survives: judgment, presence, and the ability to translate medicine into language patients understand. There's also the part nobody says out loud, which is that medicine in the Western world is a business, and AI capable physicians are going to get hired over ones who refuse to learn. This is for premeds, med students, residents and practicing physicians who want a practical answer instead of fear.
0:00 Radiology Was Supposed To Be Replaced
1:21 What I Actually Know About AI In Medicine
3:02 Your Job Broken Down Into Nine Tasks
7:54 Why Clinics Will Hire AI Capable Doctors
9:47 Judgment Is What Separates You
12:00 Do Not Outsource Your Thinking
13:49 People Skills And Taking Ownership
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
Why High-Income Doctors Still Live Paycheck to Paycheck
2026/07/21
That first attending paycheck changes everything, and not always for the better. In this episode I break down lifestyle inflation: how a sudden jump in income quietly turns into a stack of obligations that hand your hard-earned freedom right back, this time to credit cards and debt instead of a residency program. I get into why physicians are uniquely at risk, how the golden handcuffs form, and why high income doesn't mean high disposable income.
This one is for new attendings, residents about to graduate, and any physician who wants to build a great life on their income without ending up trapped by it. I cover the ego trap, the purchases that actually commit you, the real cost of waiting to invest, and a set of practical filters you can use before your next big purchase.
0:00 The First Attending Paycheck
1:14 How Lifestyle Inflation Actually Happens
2:13 Why Doctors Are at Higher Risk
3:25 The Ego Trap and Spending to Impress
5:32 The Purchases That Trap You
6:42 The Cost of Waiting to Invest
7:54 Don't Make Being a Doctor Your Identity
10:33 Practical Ways to Stay Free
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
How To Deal With Difficult People In Medicine: Doctor Explains
2026/07/14
Medical school teaches you the Krebs cycle, but it never teaches you how to handle the difficult patients, family members, colleagues, and attendings who will define your worst days on the job. In this episode I break down the people skills that actually keep you sane and functional in medicine, from staying calm under fire to setting boundaries that protect you and your staff.
Whether you are a premed, med student, resident, or early attending, this is the skill that will carry you farther than any textbook. We cover how to reframe difficult interactions, get on the same team as an angry family member, deal with lazy co-residents, and the nuclear option I reserve for the truly brutal days.
0:00 Doctors Are People Too
0:55 Why People Skills Matter Most
2:42 Reframe and Don't Assume Malice
4:35 Staying Calm With Difficult Patients
6:18 Getting on the Same Team
8:27 Boundaries and Knowing Your Options
11:04 Handling Difficult Colleagues
14:24 Never Chase Approval
15:11 The Nuclear Option
Follow Along:
💌 Website/Newsletter: https://www.pathofadoctor.com
🎙YouTube: https://youtu.be/VaYcoo7epNk
🤝 Community - https://www.skool.com/path-of-a-doctor-community-2383/about?ref=5155176e9b914782b3983a512f24b00a
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pathofadoctor
🐦 Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/pathofadoctor
🎵 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pathofadoctor
👔 LinkedIn- www.linkedin.com/in/path-of-a-doctor-725238191
Personal
💌 Website: https://www.thezeja.com
📸 Instagram - / thezeja
🐦 Twitter - / thezeja
🎵 Tiktok - / thezeja
🎙Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xJGTFWMNcMxzQsN4Be0Aj
📽️ YouTube-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIedEQ6vWfjkcvYLeTXSaw
👔 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ze-ja-672028285/
🤝Community: https://www.skool.com/the-second-pursuit-6189
About Me
I am a physician (M.D.) practicing a mix of hospitalist medicine, and urgent care. I learned a lot in my journey to becoming a physician and about more than just medicine. Follow along as I reflect and teach what I wish I knew, which for the most part, is the stuff you don’t learn in school.
Get In Touch:Happy to chat, reach out via above options.
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