Physicians and medical students’ time is more squeezed than ever by the demands of practicing and studying amid the tripledemic and soaring rates of professional burnout. It’s no surprise that a growing number of physicians and future doctors are taking advantage of listening to podcasts to enhance their knowledge of trends in medicine while commuting, running errands, making dinner or doing housework.

In 2022, more than 600,000 episodes of AMA podcasts were downloaded as listeners learned from doctors and other experts who give voice to an array of original AMA podcasts.

Below, find 10 of our top episodes from across the AMA podcast network.

1. Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, on his COVID-19 vaccine

   1. This episode of the “AMA COVID-19 Update” podcast—which was renamed “AMA Update” in 2022—features Dr. Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston. Dr. Hotez talks about his COVID-19 vaccine, Corbevax, and how it fits into our global pandemic response.

2. Optometrists doing eye surgery? California AB 2236 vetoed for patient safety with David Aizuss, MD

   1. Dr. Aizuss, a California ophthalmologist and a member of the AMA Board of Trustees, discusses the California Assembly Bill 2236. He explains how the AMA and state advocacy helped defeat the legislation, which would have allowed optometrists to perform advanced eye procedures, including surgery.
   2. Patients deserve care led by physicians—the most highly educated, trained and skilled health professionals. That’s why the AMA vigorously defends the practice of medicine against scope-of-practice expansions that threaten patient safety. Fighting scope creep is a critical component of the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians.

3. Stephen Parodi, MD, on shifting from pandemic to endemic

   1. Dr. Parodi, an infectious diseases physician, about pandemic versus endemic and what that shift will mean for our COVID-19 response. Dr. Parodi is the executive vice president of external affairs, communications and brand at The Permanente Federation, and associate executive director for The Permanente Medical Group, an AMA Health System Program member.

4. What private practice physicians need to know about prior authorization

   1. This top episode from the “AMA Thriving in Private Practice” podcast, launched in 2022, features prior-authorization experts Heather McComas, PharmD, and Emily Carroll discussing what to know about changes in prior authorization. That includes regulations for doctors such as the “gold carding” process in Texas, and how the AMA is supporting such positive steps. Tackling prior authorization is another critical component of the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians.

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5. Sandra Fryhofer, MD, on updated booster recommendations for teens

   1. Dr. Fryhofer is the AMA’s liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and a member of ACIP’s COVID-19 Vaccine Workgroup. In this episode, she offers updates on COVID-19 vaccine booster recommendations for teens, a shorter booster interval after a Pfizer vaccine series, and additional dose recommendations for children with compromised immune systems.
   2. Dr. Fryhofer, who chairs the AMA Board of Trustees, also covers what patients and physicians need to know about Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine formulation for adults and reviews data about preventing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

6. Reproductive Health Care as a Human Right

   1. Reproductive health care is a human right. Learn how this connects to health equity and explore the impacts of the overturning of Roe v. Wade with medical and legal experts in this top “AMA Prioritizing Equity” podcast episode moderated by Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, the AMA’s chief health equity officer and senior vice president.
   2. The panelists cover, among other things, the policing and criminalization of reproductive health care; abortion access and inequities in health care; the end of Roe v. Wade and a new legal frontier for abortion rights; and how the legal system can provide rights and access to health services. Visit AMA Advocacy in Action to find out what’s at stake in protecting reproductive health and other advocacy priorities the AMA is actively working on.

7. Gerald Harmon, MD, on what physicians need to know about COVID-19 therapeutics

   1. Dr. Harmon, the AMA’s immediate past president and a family physician in South Carolina, shares big takeaways about therapeutics for COVID-19 after his conversation with three physician leaders from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Also tune into the three-part podcast series outlining expert FDA insights on what physicians need to know about monoclonal antibody therapeutics, as well as Paxlovid and molnupiravir.

8. Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment of Monkeypox 

   1. In this episode of the “JAMA Author Interviews” podcast, JAMA® Associate Editor Preeti Malani, MD, MSJ, discusses the 2022 outbreak of mpox—formerly called monkeypox—with Jeannette Guarner, MD, and Carlos del Rio, MD, both of the Emory University School of Medicine’s infectious diseases division.

9. Creating a Culture That Supports Well-Being

   1. Nigel Girgrah, MD, PhD, chief wellness officer at Ochsner Health—an AMA Health System Program member—discusses strategies for creating a culture of well-being at your health care organization in this top episode from the “AMA STEPS Forward™ Podcast.” That includes addressing mental health stigma, building a strong employee-assistance program, employing an opt-out versus opt-in approach, and encouraging leadership to be vulnerable about their own burnout struggles.
   2. Reducing burnout is part of the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians, and the AMA develops resources that prioritize well-being and highlight workflow changes so physicians can focus on what matters—patient care.

10. Meet Your Match: How to nail the virtual interview

    1. AMA member Hilary Fairbrother, MD, MPH, has been interviewing residency applicants for a decade. An associate professor and the vice chair of education at University of Texas Health in Houston, Dr. Fairbrother offers tips on standing out during residency interviews in the virtual format in this episode of the “AMA Making the Rounds” podcast’s Meet Your Match series.

Other great podcasts from the AMA

If our top 10 list leaves you thirsting for more high-quality medical news audio to plug into your earholes, drink up the knowledge on offer from one of the top AMA Ed Hub™ podcast episodes, “Coffee Science: A Clinician’s Guide to a Beloved Bean.” The episode covers the link between coffee consumption and risk of cardiometabolic disease, how to identify the caffeine content in popular beverages, and the impact of coffee-preparation method on blood cholesterol. 

In addition, one of the top JAMA Network™ podcasts is “A Conversation With Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, JAMA’s New Editor in Chief.” Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, took on her new role as the 17th editor-in-chief of JAMA and the JAMA Network in July 2022. In this episode with Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, MD, Dr. Bibbins-Domingo discusses her research background, approaches to leadership in health care, and the critical role that journals play in communication about public health and science. 

Find out more about the compelling research, discussions and opinions on tap with these original podcasts from the AMA. Listen for the latest in medicine and patient care. Each AMA podcast is available to hear through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Simplecast and many other listening services.