The Doctors On Social Media Podcast

10 episodes scanned. 100% of ad slots promote the show's own products.

Recent Episodes

1. He Wasn’t a Doctor Yet. Then Someone Needed One.

   Oct 4, 2026

   Noah Kaufman, an ER doctor opening a private practice in Denver, shares formative stories from his medical training when he found himself practicing emergency medicine outside traditional hospital settings. The episode focuses on his climbing adventures and the unexpected medical emergencies he encountered, beginning with reducing a dislocated shoulder on a teenage boy in rural Mexico during his first year of medical school using only his truck tailgate. Kaufman recounts multiple instances of answering the call to help—from a seizure in a movie theater to highway accidents—that shaped his career in emergency medicine.

2. 1,000 Feet Up, His Hand Slipped

   Sep 27, 2026

   Noah Kaufman, an ER doctor with 23 years of experience opening a private practice in Denver, recounts a harrowing free solo climb of Royal Arches in Yosemite in 1999 while a medical student, during which he nearly fell 1,000 feet when his blood-slicked hand slipped in a crack. The episode explores themes of recklessness, masculinity, the fearlessness of youth, and how climbing provided an alter ego and counterbalance to the demands of medical training.

3. The Night I Lied to a Surgeon to Save a Patient’s Life

   Sep 20, 2026

   Dr. Noah Kaufman, an ER physician with 23 years of experience, recounts a harrowing night shift in Fallon, Nevada where a 70-year-old woman presented with a dislocated shoulder but then began vomiting blood. Unable to reach a reluctant surgeon and facing a patient in hemorrhagic shock, Kaufman strategically lies to the surgeon about speaking with the family regarding end-of-life care—a calculated deception that prompts the surgeon to arrive immediately and discover a life-threatening duodenal ulcer. The episode explores clinical judgment, medical hierarchy, the tension between protocol and patient advocacy, and a rare moment when breaking medicine's cardinal rule of honesty became necessary to save a life.

4. I Was One Month From Finishing Residency. Then I Quit.

   Sep 13, 2026

   Dr. Noah Kaufman, an emergency medicine physician, recounts his journey through medical training as an independent thinker who frequently clashed with institutional hierarchy and authority. From an arrest during his first year of medical school to confrontations with senior residents and attendings over patient care decisions, Kaufman traces how his authenticity and refusal to stay silent cost him throughout his training. The episode culminates in his near-resignation during the final month of residency after a confrontation with an intimidating pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, exploring the culture of medical training, the expectation of blind obedience, and the importance of physicians being able to say "I don't know."

5. Gunshots, Ninja Warrior & One Very Strange Night in the ER

   Sep 6, 2026

   Noah Kaufman, an emergency physician and former American Ninja Warrior competitor, recounts a chaotic Saturday night at a Level 2 trauma center in Denver. The episode opens with an unusual foreign-body case requiring emergency surgery, then pivots to a Level 1 trauma involving a gunshot wound to the chest—during which the patient recognizes Noah from television, creating a surreal moment in the trauma bay. Through these stories, Noah reflects on the collision between his public identity as a TV personality and his identity as an ER doctor.

6. The Independent ER Doctor: Rethinking Where Acute Care Happens

   Sep 3, 2026

   Dr. Noah Kaufman, a board-certified emergency physician with 23 years of experience, discusses his transition from traditional hospital-based emergency medicine to founding Cough Care Advanced Urgent Care in Denver—a direct-pay, physician-owned acute care clinic positioned between urgent care and the emergency department. He explains his model's operational advantages, including in-house diagnostics, AI-assisted charting, transparent $120 visit fees, and the ability to deliver high-acuity care typically reserved for ERs. Kaufman addresses criticisms about creating a two-tiered healthcare system and outlines the mental, financial, and operational requirements for other ER physicians considering similar independent practices.

7. The Biggest “I Don’t Know” in Medicine

   Aug 30, 2026

   Dr. Noah Kaufman, an emergency medicine physician with 23 years of experience, recounts his firsthand account of practicing medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic across multiple emergency departments. He shares a pivotal story from a small Michigan town where he was unable to save a middle-aged COVID patient, only to be confronted by the man's grieving teenage son. Kaufman reflects on the uncertainty that defined the pandemic, the difficulty of admitting 'I don't know' as a physician, and how COVID fundamentally and permanently altered emergency medicine, the physician-patient relationship, and his own career trajectory.

8. What’s in Your Patient Agreement? Two Ways One Plastic Surgeon Protects His Practice.

   Aug 29, 2026

   Dr. Jason Hall, a plastic surgeon with a solo private practice in Knoxville, Tennessee, discusses two legal strategies he developed with counsel to protect his practice: a HIPAA waiver for online reviews that allows him to respond to patient reviews while maintaining privacy compliance, and an arbitration clause in patient agreements designed to resolve disputes outside the courtroom. Hall shares lessons learned from building his practice without formal business training alongside his wife, a physician assistant.

9. He Carried Her Through Yosemite. Ten Years Later, Her Father Found Him.

   Aug 23, 2026

   Dr. Noah Kaufman, an emergency physician with 23 years of experience, shares two extraordinary stories of emergency medicine practiced outside the traditional hospital setting. The first involves improvising a single-lead EKG at a remote Lake Tahoe ski clinic to diagnose a massive heart attack (ST elevation MI), while the second recounts a harrowing rescue in Yosemite where he carries a critically injured young girl struck by rockfall through the forest to the clinic. A decade later, her father tracks him down to reveal she survived and is now pursuing emergency medicine herself.

10. The Physician Story Her Hospital Didn’t Want to Hear: Dr. Recinos

    Aug 16, 2026

    Dr. Sheryl Recinos, a family medicine physician and assistant professor, discusses her memoir 'Hindsight: Coming of Age on the Streets of Hollywood,' which chronicles her experiences with homelessness as a teenager and her brother's suicide five days after she completed residency. She recounts how her employers discouraged her writing and public advocacy, creating a conflict between her identity as a physician and her identity as a writer and activist focused on ending youth homelessness. The episode explores institutional resistance to physician self-expression, the healing role of writing in managing trauma and burnout, and the need for healthcare systems to embrace the full humanity of their doctors.