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