Stanford Medicine 25’s Top Podcast Picks
April 16, 2025 - By Lindsay Paulsen
We know that human connection lies at the heart of medicine and is the distinguishing factor that transforms clinical encounters into healing relationships. But, it can be easy to lose sight of this in the hustle and bustle of everyday work.
Whether you’re seeking to refresh your approach to medicine or simply looking to dive deeper into the topic of humanism in care, we think the following five podcasts offer some great perspectives!
The Doctor's Art
The Doctor’s Art podcast, hosted by Stanford University School of Medicine’s Henry Bair, MD, MBA, and Tyler Johnson, MD, explores the deeper meaning of medicine. The series focuses on themes that are core to Stanford Medicine 25: human connection, storytelling, healing, compassion and more. Episodes feature a wide variety of medical professionals, including ICU physicians, geneticists, ophthalmologists, pediatricians, medical educators and more. A number of familiar voices from the Stanford Medicine community lead conversations, including that of Stanford Medicine 25 founder Abraham Verghese, MD. We recommend checking out his episode, “On Reading the Body,” which addresses why the human touch still matters for healing in an increasingly digital age. Listen here.
The Bedside Rounds
In The Bedside Rounds podcast, Harvard Medical School’s Adam Rodman, MD, tells narrative stories that connect medical history to modern clinical practice. Humanism emerges as a major theme throughout the more than 70 episodes, which cover a fascinating and unexpected range of topics, such as how Sherlock Holmes influences medicine, the history of ether, malariotherapy, the electronic health record and much more. Learn more here.
The Curbsiders
The Curbsiders, hosted by internists Matthew Watto, MD, and Paul Williams, MD, centers on internal medicine and aims to share clinical pearls and “practice-changing knowledge.” It has a fun, quirky feel and aims to speak to the “pain points” of practicing internists. Throughout discussions of common diseases, clinical concerns and trending health subjects, themes on bedside skills, patient communication and the physical exam frequently emerge. Learn more here.
JAMAevidence: The Rational Clinical Examination
JAMAevidence: The Rational Clinical Examination features interviews with medical experts on evidence-based use of medical history, physical exams and testing to diagnose disease. JAMA editors lead discussions with guest experts on common medical conditions, such as heart failure, urinary tract infection, dementia, depression, splenomegaly and more. We love the emphasis on the physical exam throughout this series and appreciate the straightforward approach to these topics. Many episodes are less than 10 minutes long, making them great for a quick listen to brush up on knowledge. Listen here.
On Becoming a Healer
On Becoming a Healer is hosted by University of Illinois at Chicago’s Saul Weiner, MD, and University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Stefan Kertesz, MD, MS. The podcast builds upon Weiner’s book from 2020, “On Becoming a Healer: The Journey from Patient Care to Caring about Your Patients.” With their guests, Weiner and Kertesz discuss the culture that surrounds clinician training and how that translates to patient care and clinician wellbeing. They emphasize that physicians are “pressured to become ‘efficient task completers’ rather than healers.” Conversations cover the doctor-patient relationship, communication, challenging clinical interactions, the joy in medical practice and more. Not sure where to start? Check out “Healing Interactions: What are they made of?”
For medical students, practicing physicians, and healthcare professionals in search of inspiration, these podcasts offer valuable insights into the enduring importance of the doctor-patient relationship.
If you’re looking to deepen your knowledge on humanism in medicine, check out Stanford Medicine 25’s reading suggestions here!
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