“The Pitt” Review: Why Every Physician Loves the Show

I’m working overnights this weekend, which means the last thing I should be doing is watching television. But that’s exactly what I have planned, because I need to catch up on the latest episode of The Pitt (no spoilers please!). I was quoted in the NYT this week about why The Pitt has become such a smash hit with healthcare workers. For me, I think it’s because it’s by far the most accurate show about emergency medicine I’ve ever seen.

Truthfully, each episode feels like a much-needed love letter — or maybe a “gratitude letter” — to doctors. That’s why I’ve gotten so emotional watching the show — not because I’m sad, but more out of a sense of relief that someone is finally listening. After so many years of Hollywood getting “doctor shows” wrong, someone finally cared enough about what we’re going through to understand and depict our world accurately.

The show has also taught me another important lesson that I think we could all apply in our daily lives: ❤️ We, as healthcare workers, need to be kinder to ourselves. ❤️ Simply put, the culture of medicine we’ve all come to accept — work harder, go faster, no breaks to pee or eat — is unsustainable. And while it arguably shouldn’t take a TV show to teach us this lesson, I think it’s time we started extending the same level of grace and compassion we feel for the show’s characters to ourselves and each other. No, you’re not crazy to feel physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained after a tough shift. And yes, perhaps in hindsight, watching TV is exactly what I should be doing this weekend 😊

Graham Walker, MD, Emergency Physician
Co-founder, Offcall

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P.S. I loved these reactions to “The Pitt” from other physicians! Dr. Zhen Chan, Dr. Jung Hoon Son, Dr. Misty Navarro, Dr. Eric Harker, Dr. Priya Mammen, Dr. Ramy Khalil, Dr. Aditi Joshi. Are you watching and enjoying the show? Reply directly with your take and what you like (or dislike) about it, or post directly in the comments!

Why I Chose Direct Primary Care Straight Out of Residency

This week on How I Doctor, Graham interviewed Dr. Kenneth Qiu, a family medicine physician who started his own direct primary care practice right out of residency. Kenneth shares his thoughts on the state of primary care and makes the case for a direct care model over traditional fee-for-service care. He also discusses launching and marketing his practice, the specific challenges of family medicine, and the importance of having humility as a physician. The episode spotlights a physician who’s found success by bucking convention, and has sparked great reactions from our community!

@Zain Yahya: “I’m inspired by the bold moves [Kenneth] made fresh out of residency!”

@Clint Flanagan: “Dr. Kenneth is an awesome, trustworthy gent -- sincerely appreciate all he does to educate the masses about Direct Primary Care!”

@Kevin Walker: “Great point! How we get compensated fundamentally changes our perspectives and efforts.”

@Sergei Polevikov: “Support your family physician! #DPC”

@Eric Arzubi: “Good for him! That takes some cojones to do right out of residency.”

@Shane Speirs: “Great insights into the world of family physicians and direct primary care! A commendable decision by Kenneth to start his own practice.”

Listen to the episode →

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Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust Doctors Anymore? →

ICYMI, Graham’s op-ed in response to the confirmation of RFK Jr. has sparked quite a reaction on social media!

3 Things to Read This Week

Doctor Wanted: Small Town Offers Big Perks To Attract a Physician → (KFF)
With the physician shortage growing, one Florida launched a recruitment campaign to find a new local doctor.

Physician Gender and Patient Perceptions of Interpersonal and Technical Skills in Online Reviews → (JAMA Network Open)
Patients might give female doctors less grace when they rate physicians online, according to a new study.

What Is the Relative Value of a Baby? → (NEJM) (h/t @ Lou Hart, MD)
"The care I provided in the delivery room to ensure that this baby survived: 1.94 RVUs (code 99464). The bundle of services my obstetrical colleagues provided for this mother, including her 15 prenatal appointments, her labor, her vaginal delivery, and her post-partum care: 36.58 RVUs (code 59400). Elsewhere in the hospital, if my physician colleagues perform 30 minutes of hair removal by electrolysis: 264.87 RVUs (code 17380)."

Don’t Forget to Sign Up for Offcall

At Offcall, our goal is simple: to bring more fairness and transparency to medicine. If you’re new here, don’t forget to sign up for our job transparency tool!

Using our private and anonymous salary tool, thousands of physicians are benchmarking their pay and key aspects of their jobs — things like patients seen per shift, total hours worked, supervising NPs and PAs, etc. We’re gearing up for our first major data release across various specialities. If you’re curious how your compensation compares to your peers, and to ensure we have the most accurate data to help bring about pay and workload transparency, we would love for you to join us!

Sign Up (It’s anonymous and takes less than 2 minutes)

Highlights From Our Community

Each week, we call out career milestones, launches, and other goings-on in our community. Have something to promote? Reply and we’ll feature you.

🪖🥼 Special thanks, VA physicians
To doctors at the VA who’ve lost their jobs — or are considered probationary and worried about being laid off, or are doing the extra emotional labor of consoling patients who are federal workers — we appreciate you and your commitment to public service. Anyone who’s on the job hunt, drop your LinkedIn profile in the comments or message us and we’ll give you a shout out next week. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

👏 Great work, Ozan Unlu
Dr. Unlu’s team published a new study in JAMA that compares AI-assisted screening for clinical trial eligibility against traditional manual screening. Read it.

🎙️Kudos, Robert Pearl
Dr. Pearl interviewed cardiologist and burnout expert Jonathan Fisher about side gigs on the latest episode of the podcast he cohosts, Fixing Healthcare. Listen.

🥼Exciting news, Benjamin Schwartz
Dr. Schwartz is moving into the role of Chair of the Practice Management Committee for the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.

🥂Congrats, Shiv Rao
Dr. Rao is the CEO and founder of Abridge, a generative AI platform for clinical documentation, which just announced its Series C funding round.

📱Keep it coming, Oliver Aalami
Dr. Aalami co-authored a new paper about mobile-run AI models becoming a reality. Read it.

🎊Wonderful job, Dinesh Kotak
Dr. Kotak’s team published a case study about a virtual platform created by Kaiser Permanente that lets oncologists solicit subspecialist consults and hear back quickly. Read it.

📢 Alert: Allstar for hire 📢
Payal Adhikari, a Chicago-based pediatrician with consulting and entrepreneurial experience, is looking for her next role. Learn more and connect.

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