On/Offcall: LIVE! Learn the Best Prompts and AI Tools for Clinicians

Welcome back to On/Offcall!

🚨Teach me how to prompt as a clinician…

We’re throwing our next live AI webinar and you’re invited! Prompting is one of the most vital new skills you can learn today, but no one really teaches it. So we've assembled some of medicine's brightest minds to reveal the prompting techniques that every clinician needs to know to start getting the most out of AI today.

Sponsored by Evidently, the event will feature Offcall co-founder Dr. Graham Walker, AI educator, CMIO, and virtualist Dr. Matthew Sakumoto, and Evidently Head of Clinical Success Dr. Kai Romero. After years of trialing different AI tools and honing their prompts, they'll share:

👉 Live demos of AI tools and workflows
👉 Helpful frameworks to up your prompting game
👉 Actual prompt examples to incorporate into your own work
And much more!

🚨We look forward to seeing you there! Register now to claim your spot.
♻️ Re-post to spread the word!

Know someone who would benefit from joining us? Help us grow our tent by forwarding this newsletter to your physician colleagues and subscribing here.

Emergency physicians, see you at ACEP!

Planning to attend ACEP’s annual conference in Salt Lake City this year? We’ll be there! We’re throwing a private event with Abridge, and we’d love to see you there:

Off the Clock with Offcall and Abridge
Join Dr. Graham Walker and the Abridge and Offcall teams on Monday, September 8 at 6-9 PM at Backdoor at Laziz Kitchen — a vibrant hidden lounge tucked behind one of Salt Lake City’s favorite spots serving Mediterranean-inspired food and drinks. Mingle with the Offcall and Abridge teams and connect with friends and leaders from across emergency medicine and the health tech industry.

RSVP here — space is limited

How Dr. Gita Pensa’s Malpractice Lawsuit Became a Blueprint for Helping Other Doctors

This week’s How I Doctor guest is Dr. Gita Pensa, an Emergency Medicine physician who knows firsthand how devastating a malpractice suit can be. After being named in a malpractice lawsuit that dragged on for 12 years and included two jury trials, she emerged with a mission: to expose the hidden trauma that litigation inflicts on physicians and help her colleagues survive it.

She’s practiced Emergency Medicine in Rhode Island since 2001, serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and works as a litigation stress coach for healthcare professionals. In the episode, Dr. Pensa opens up to Graham about what it really feels like to get served: “I remember trying to read it and the words just all sort of mixed together... hyperventilating, wanting to vomit, needing to sit down.”

It’s a raw, essential conversation about something no one prepares us for in medicine — and how we can support one another through it. Dr. Pensa shares:

👉 The top three steps to take immediately if you're facing a lawsuit
👉 What not to do during litigation (mistakes many of us make)
👉 How to think about malpractice insurance before you ever need it
👉 And why legal outcomes don’t define your care — or your worth.

Thank you Gita, for your honesty, courage, and for lighting the way forward. ❤️

Listen to the episode here

Most Talked About On Offcall

Independent Physician Spotlight: Desmond Ebanks

Read the inspiring journey of Dr. Desmond Ebanks, Founder and Medical Director of Alternity Healthcare!

Which Specialties Are Physicians Most and Least Satisfied? What the Data Shows

See this week’s #DataWednesdays newly released data set. Weigh in on social media here.

What Does “Fair Market Value” Really Mean? A Physician Contract Attorney Weighs In

Michael Johnson breaks down some of the biggest contract myths being used to hold physicians down.

Physician Builder Spotlight: Rajiv Narula

We’re shining light on MD-entrepreneurs! Each week, we feature an entrepreneurial doctor who’s building a cool product, company, or working on a big idea that you definitely want to know about. This week, meet Rajiv Narula, Founder and CEO of Sevaro (more on the company’s mission below!). You can connect further with Rajiv on LinkedIn.

1. Rajiv, what inspired you to become a physician entrepreneur? On April 24, 2017, I faced the toughest decision of my career: Pursue a two-year Neurointerventional Radiology fellowship or start my own company. After finishing my stroke fellowship, if I went the interventional route, I could play a meaningful role in saving a person’s life and enjoy a gratifying, lucrative career; however, I could only care for one patient at a time. If I built something scalable as an entrepreneur, I could impact thousands, maybe millions, of patients.

I’ve always been a creator and an operator, and I saw glaring inefficiencies in tele-neurology and a lack of focus on quality and technology. Too many neurologists were burnt out and dissatisfied with their jobs. I knew these problems could be fixed if a company was built and led by physicians.

So I decided to take the harder path, bootstrapping Sevaro Health with my own money and going three years without a salary. Since then, I’ve raised $12M in Series A and $39M in Series B funding, carefully selecting investment partners who shared our commitment to quality. I still hold the largest ownership stake in the company. Along the way, I’ve authored a children’s book on stroke, launched a $50,000 education stipend in partnership with Yale School of Medicine, and founded a nonprofit,StatSeva.org, which provides free pediatrics and women’s health care to rural villages in India.

2. Tell us what your company does and what problem you’re trying to solve. Sevaro Health is a physician-led, AI-powered virtual neurology company. Our mission is simple yet urgent: to provide hospitals and patients with access to high-quality, rapid neurological care — anytime, anywhere. Stroke is one of the most time-sensitive conditions in medicine, and delays in diagnosis or treatment can mean the difference between recovery and permanent disability.

We built our proprietary Synapse AI platform to connect an ED physician to a stroke neurologist in under 45 seconds. This speed, combined with our focus on quality metrics, physician training, and hospital partnership, allows us to save lives while reducing burnout among neurologists. We don’t just provide coverage, we help health systems strengthen and grow their neuro programs, improve operational efficiency, and enhance patient outcomes.

3. What’s your advice to anyone who’s thinking about entrepreneurship or a nontraditional career in medicine? Physicians are some of the most resilient, relentless, and gritty people in the world. I’m willing to be challenged on that and have yet to be proven wrong. We’ve faced life-and-death situations, had to call a time of death, endured intense training, and pushed through sleepless nights — things few other people experience in their entire life. In business, the worst that can happen is you lose money. Nobody will lose their life.

That said, entrepreneurship is a different beast and the hardest thing I’ve ever done, more challenging than residency, more exhausting than being a parent. In medicine, we’re used to a clear, linear path: med school, USMLEs, residency, fellowship, board exams, becoming an attending, and then academics or private practice. It’s predictable. Business is the opposite — you have to be comfortable living in uncertainty, which can be tough for academic physicians. You’re constantly navigating ambiguity, keeping your long-term vision intact, and managing people. The hardest part? Managing people, their expectations, and culture.

If you’re a physician considering the leap, be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. EQ and financial literacy are two skills often underdeveloped during medical training yet critical in entrepreneurship — but both can be learned. Expect mental exhaustion and moments of loneliness, but if you truly believe in your mission, the discomfort will be worth it in the long term.

4. How can a physician overcome their biggest fear to start a company? Fear is natural, but clarity beats fear every time. Ask yourself: “If I don’t do this now, will I regret it in 10 years?” For me, the answer was a resounding yes. I knew I could always return to practicing medicine, but I might never get another chance to build something that could transform neurological care at scale. Start by validating your idea — talk to potential customers, test your assumptions, and be open to refining your vision. Don’t wait for perfection; start with the smallest viable version of your idea and improve it as you go. Surround yourself with people who believe in your mission and will challenge your thinking. And most importantly, remember that the first step is never as hard as the steps you’ll take later, but it’s the most important.

5. What’s the #1 lesson you’ve learned since building your company that wasn’t obvious before? You can have the best idea and product, but without the right team and culture, you’ll go nowhere. Culture is like a kitchen sink — once the first dirty dish sits there, everything starts to pile up. Protecting it means making tough decisions quickly, even when they’re uncomfortable, because you owe it to the people who are all-in with you. That also means letting go to let others grow. As physicians, we’re detail-oriented and perfectionists. In business, you have to be okay letting go of certain things and giving others control of your “baby,” giving up the pursuit of perfection. Delegating to others was very difficult for me, but it’s been essential to our success.

6. Name the top resources you found most helpful to get going as an entrepreneur. The best resource is other people’s experience. I learn by dropping my ego and asking people I admire questions and through their experience, learning what to do and not to do. There’s something to learn from everyone around you. For physicians, this is not second nature, because proving we’re always right is our default mode of operation.

Next, I learn by doing — by trying, failing, and iterating quickly. Along the way, I’ve sought guidance from my CEO coach John Hamm and drawn inspiration from thinkers like Naval Ravikant and Robin Sharma. I talk to a lot of people — other founders, hospital leaders, doctors, and nurses — to learn from both their successes and their mistakes. Learning from others’ mistakes is just as important as learning from their wins. For example, through the process of raising capital, I’ve learned what type of investors wouldn’t align with my goals — and at one junction, I avoided a catastrophe where I realized there was risk of the company being taken from me. Those experiences taught me how physicians can navigate unique situations and stay in control to drive the vision of their company. Mindset and resilience are everything. As physicians, we have a safety net: a meaningful career we can return to but we won’t always have the chance to build something bigger than ourselves. That’s why I encourage physicians to take the leap. For me, finding the right investment partners was critical. I chose investors who value quality over speed.

7. How can other physicians support you? Are you open to connection/investment/user feedback, etc.? Absolutely. We are the underdogs in this space, and my goal is to show the industry that a physician-led company can grow successfully — with both quality and financial strength, not one or the other. I’m a strong advocate for physician leadership in healthcare, and I believe more of us should take the lead in shaping systems and solutions. Physicians can support me by introducing Sevaro Health to their hospital leadership, especially if those hospitals value high-quality, rapid neurological care. We’ve built a system that can connect an ED physician to a stroke neurologist in under 45 seconds, and we’re looking to partner with institutions that share our commitment to excellence. Or they can introduce me to an excellent person they’ve worked with who’s looking for a job.

Whether it’s connections, feedback, or advisory work, I welcome it — especially from physicians who want to see a physician-led company grow. And if our mission resonates with you, join us not just in business, but in outreach through our stroke education programs for children (BefastBeAhero.com) or StatSeva.org’s work in rural India.

This excerpt has been shortened, read the full article here. Know someone else who should be featured? Reply or tag them and their company in the comments!

Best Things to Read This Week

Hospital takeovers of physician practices drive up health care prices (Yale)
As hospitals gobble up private physician practices, patients and insurers pay more, a new Yale study finds.

5 areas of healthcare that are hot now because of AI (Second Opinion)
Round-up of some of the leading use cases for AI in healthcare that are gaining traction.

Patient perception of physician attire: a systematic analysis (BMJ Open)
How does physicians’ clothing impact patient trust and perceptions? See this new study.

Future of Medical AI and Search (South Park Commons)
How will AI impact medical search online? A fascinating conversation with physicians and technologists.

Highlights From Our Community

Each week, we celebrate career milestones, launches, & other goings-on in the physician community. Have something to promote? Reply and we’ll feature you.

🤔 So true, Howard Luks
Dr. Howard Luks reflected on what he never learned in medical school after 25 years practicing as a surgeon in a heartfelt social media post. Read it here.

✅ Keep it up, Hala Borno 
Dr. Hala Borno was profiled in The Healthcare Technology Report about her company Trial Library and her mission to improve who gets to access clinical trials. Read it here.

🗣️Thanks for speaking up, Amy Perkins
Dr. Amy Perkins spoke out about receiving online hate for speaking out as a doctor and why she’s worried it may lead others to avoid social media altogether. Read it here (h/t Dr. Tisha Titus).

👥 Well done, Kameron Matthews
Dr. Kameron Matthews spoke on a virtual panel of stellar family physicians for a Road to Residency Family Medicine Panel, also featuring Dr. Leon Mccrea, Dr. Andrea Anderson, Dr. Camille Garrison, Dr. Santina Wheat, and Dr. Marshala Lee-McCall. See the recap here and also find their other webinars here. (h/t Shawn Martin)

🍲👉💭 Food for thought, Mark Richman
Dr. Mark Richman shared his personal reflections on doctors writing prescriptions for exercise and socializing and why it works better than just telling patients to do the same. Interesting read here.

🙌 Preach, Trey Rawles
Datavant’s Trey Rawles used AI to analyze what physicians actually contribute to our healthcare system and discovered we’re compensating doctors inversely to the value they create. Thank you for your work! See it here.

👉 Follow along, XPC Hackathon
Happening now! Dr. Paulius Mui is hosting a virtual 56-hour hackathon event to showcase ideas that will transform care workflows. Featuring keynote speeches from Graham and mentorship from an all-star cast: Dr. Calvin Johnston, Dr. Gerardo Bonilla, Dr. Morgan Jeffries, Dr. Alex Dummett, Dr. Vishnu Ravi, Benjamin Lee, Shikha Kothari, Dr. Jay Parkinson, Dr. Jenny Yu, and Misha Manulis. Learn more here.

🎉 Congrats, Jonathan Wakim
Dr. Jonathan Wakim is beginning a new role as Senior Director of R&D at Vizient. Congrats! Read more here.

🎉🥳 Also congrats, Ling Chu
Dr. Ling Chu is starting a position as Assistant Vice President, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Ambulatory at UT Southwestern Medical Center! Congratulate her here.

🎉🥳🎉🥳 Career news, Kevin Volkema
Dr. Kevin Volkema announced he is beginning a new chapter with Valley Health as regional medical director and primary care physician. Congratulate him here.

🎉🥳🎊🎁 More career news, Steven Bradley 
Dr. Steven Bradley is starting a new role as Anesthesiologist at BayCare Medical Group. Congratulate him here!

🥳 Bravo, Viktor Ekuta
Dr. Victor Ekuta was featured by the AMA Foundation and received the 2025 Outstanding International Medical Graduate Award. See it here!

🚀 And last but not least, Graham :) 
Graham interviewed Mark Cuban on stage at Stanford about his playbook to disrupt healthcare. See his recap here and don’t miss his How I Doctor podcast interview with Mark from earlier this year.

Be Sure to Sign Up for Offcall!

At Offcall, we believe physicians deserve to be heard, valued, and treated fairly. Everything we do is driven by our commitment to empowering doctors with accurate, reliable, and trustworthy data — to advocate confidently for themselves and ensure their compensation truly reflects their worth.

Learn more and sign up here

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