The Doctor's Art

Many of us find ourselves awash in a deluge of instant communication. Text messages, emails, and direct messages come and go at a dizzying pace. Against this backdrop of overstuffed inboxes and lengthy text threads, we instinctively sense that letters – the kind you write or type and perhaps stuff in an envelope – are something different. Something weightier. For the terminally ill, writing a letter not only stands apart from other forms of communication — it stands apart from time. The process of writing a letter for loved ones can be a potent therapy for the patient and a legacy for those left behind.  

Our guests on this episode are Bryant Lin, MD and Frish Brandt. Bryant is a recurring guest on the show and a primary care physician, educator, and researcher at Stanford University who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2024. Frish is a “letter midwife” who began her work helping palliative care and hospice patients write letters for their loved ones. When Bryant and Frish crossed paths, it led to Bryant sponsoring Frish as a lecturer at Stanford and eventually to Frish helping Bryant write a letter of his own. In October of this year, Bryant and Frish are each publishing books. Sunshine explores what Bryant has learned about living while dying, while Unfinished Business is Frish’s guide to writing the five essential letters of one’s life.

In this episode, you will learn about the work of a letter midwife and get an update on Bryant’s cancer journey. Frish and Bryant share how their stories became intertwined, the experience of writing a letter together, and what makes writing a letter uniquely impactful for both the writer and the recipients. Together, they urge us to not put off saying the important things, and better yet, taking the time to put them in writing. 

In this episode, you’ll hear about: 

3:20 - How Frish became a ‘letter midwife’ and began helping people write letters to address their unfinished business 

10:55 - The importance fostering conversation and connection in our rapid, high tech world 

15:33 - How Frish and Bryant’s letter writing collaboration came to be 

26:45 - Why letters carry a unique weight 

29:00 - What goes into creating a letter for someone you love 

51:00 - Grappling with the concept of time and day-to-day life when you have a progressive disease 

55:15 - How Bryant’s cancer has changed his approach to doctoring 

1:00:00 - How Frish’s work as a letter midwife has changed her approach to life, and what we can learn from her experience

Link to Bryant’s past episodes. Links to both of their preorders. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026

Sometimes established physicians experience a strange kind of amnesia when thinking back on their training, causing them to forget just how challenging it was. Worse, some physicians do remember how hard those years were and feel that up-and-coming doctors should suffer the same difficulties they did. To accurately understand what it is like to become a doctor, it helps to talk to those fresh out of training and, of course, trainees themselves. 

Our guest on this episode is Grant Lin, MD, a brand new clinical assistant professor in pediatric neurology at Stanford. Grant completed his fellowship in Palliative Care this summer after finishing residencies in pediatrics and child neurology. While in medical school and residency at Stanford, he became a leader in the successful movement to unionize the interns, residents, and fellows that make up Stanford Hospital’s house staff. 

Over the course of this episode, Grant shares lessons learned from training in palliative medicine and caring for children with neurologic diseases. We discuss the turbulence of medical training, the difficulty of essentially changing jobs twelve times in a year as a medical student, and what led to the house staff unionization effort at Stanford. Finally, Grant encourages trainees to make their voices heard and for hospitals to care for their staff so the staff can care for their patients. 

In this episode, you’ll hear about: 

2:30 - Grant’s path to becoming a doctor and specializing in pediatric neuropalliative care 

9:45 - The experience of taking care of children who are facing neurodegenerative illnesses

17:36 - How Grant’s approach to difficult patient conversations changed after palliative care training 

21:38 - The turmoil of clinical rotations as a medical student

33:30 - Grant’s work leading the unionization effort at Stanford to advocate for better house staff working conditions 

48:00 - Grant’s advice to house staff members who might find themselves struggling 

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026

It wasn’t that many years ago that self-driving cars were the stuff of science fiction. But in what feels like the blink of an eye, driver-less cars now roam the streets of a growing number of cities across the country. In fact, it’s not all that difficult to imagine a future in which the sheer risk of driving one’s own car is considered unethical. The trajectory of Artificial Intelligence in medicine may follow a similar arc. As AI becomes increasingly adept at diagnosing patients and recommending treatment plans, it’s not hard to imagine a day when it would be unethical for a doctor not to consult AI. 

Our guest on this episode is Ethan Goh, MD, an internal medicine physician and executive director of ARISE — Harvard and Stanford’s research network focused on advancing the evaluation and deployment of AI in healthcare. In addition to his role at ARISE, Dr. Goh is the Program Director of Stanford’s Healthcare AI Leadership Program and a Visiting Faculty Researcher at Google. His extensive work has been published in Nature Medicine, Science, and JAMA, with media coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN. 

Over the course of this episode, Dr. Goh details the current capabilities of AI in the medical space, including the surprising finding that AI alone does better at diagnosing disease than doctors who are themselves using AI. We discuss the limitations of studies that compare AI to doctors in relatively noise-free tests and consider the importance of designing workflows that allow healthcare providers to work synergistically with AI. Finally, Dr. Goh reminds us that medicine isn’t just coming to the right answer, it is also about care, making the value of a person in the room who understands a patient’s disease as well as their humanity something that is not easily replaced. 

In this episode of The Doctor’s Art: 

3:10 - Dr. Goh’s professional journey to the intersection of medicine and AI

9:15 - An update on the status of AI in medicine 

20:25 - How is it that AI does better at diagnosis than physicians who are using AI?

29:45 - If AI has become better at diagnosis than humans, why keep humans in the loop? 

37:26 - Necessary changes in medical regulation, licensure, and liability to capitalize on AI in medicine

47:54 - Training new doctors in the age of AI

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026

When a child tragically gets cancer, parents and families often find themselves grasping for ways to make sense of their new reality. It is one thing to know abstractly that we live in a world where the innocent suffer, but it is another thing entirely to suffer alongside your own child. Such a life-altering experience can raise heavy questions for parents, at times forcing them to reassess their most closely held narratives and cherished beliefs. 

Our guest on this episode is Grant Romoser-Claunch. Grant is a Christian pastor at Newsong Fellowship in Illinois and a husband and a father. When his four-and-half month old son Simon was diagnosed with leukemia, Grant was confronted with the daunting question: Where is God in this? His 2025 book Bone of my Bone chronicles his journey with Simon and captures the spiritual challenges and growth he experienced along the way. 

Over the course of our conversation, Grant shares Simon’s cancer story from diagnosis all the way to remission. We explore how Grant’s faith was challenged and re-formed while caring for Simon and reflect on how deeper learning often requires a preceding process of unlearning. Finally, Grant reminds medical professionals of their moral duty to wield the power of their position with love.  

In this episode, you’ll hear about: 

2:30 - Grant’s work as a pastor and the path that led him to his work

9:30 - The heart wrenching story of Grant’s son’s journey with leukemia 

33:50 - How Grant’s experience with his son’s cancer challenged his faith and motivated him to write 

41:50 -  The ways in which Grant’s understanding of God transformed throughout his son’s journey

48:20 - How the concrete details of life can lead us to profound insights

1:00:30 - The impact of doctors who wield their power for their parents instead of over their patients

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026

GLP-1s have taken the country by storm. Patients are losing and keeping off weight at levels previously only seen through bariatric surgery. Research trials have shown the drugs to be effective at reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death. They protect the kidneys, reduce sleep apnea, and treat fatty liver and peripheral artery disease – all while being studied for a laundry-list of additional indications. The drugs originally designed for glucose control in diabetes are transforming lives — and raising big social questions. 

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Marilyn Tan, clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University and chief of the Endocrine Clinic at Stanford Health Care. Dr. Tan focuses on diabetes management in both her clinical practice and research, and she is on the front lines of using GLP1-1s in patient care.

Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Tan provides a brief history of the development of GLP-1s and describes just how large a leap forward these medications are in weight management. We discuss the patient experience of being on GLP-1s for weight loss – and the stunningly wide array of other uses for the drug beyond weight loss and diabetes. Finally, we discuss the curious effect these medications seem to have on cravings beyond food, and reflect on the use of GLP-1s in the context of an addiction-saturated society. 

In this episode, you’ll hear about: 

2:37 - Dr. Tan’s path to endocrinology and her work in the field 

7:45 - The challenges and rewards inherent in treating a disease like obesity or diabetes that is strongly affected by factors beyond the control of the patient but still requires behavioral interventions

15:45 - The landscape of obesity treatment prior to GLP-1s 

22:45 - How GLP-1s function and how they differ from the drugs that came before them 

28:10 - Common patient experiences and treatment courses with GLP-1s 

35:30 - The growing evidence that GLP-1s can be effective in treating addiction, and the complexity of medicating individuals to address issues with systemic roots

49:00 - Improving your overall health while living a busy life 

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2026