The LOUNGE - A Newsletter for Savvy Physicians

We scour the net, selecting the most pertinent articles for the busy doc so you don’t have to! Here’s what kept our focus this week…

• Medical gaslighting isn’t usually malice—it’s what happens when a strained system turns rushed reassurance into perceived dismissal.

• Human brains work in cycles, not continuous stretches, making nonstop meetings cognitively damaging.

• Two developers tried to mine Ethereum, lost money, and accidentally built one of AI’s fastest-growing infrastructure platforms.

• When teams span countries and time zones, misunderstanding becomes the default unless leaders intervene early.

• What does becoming an astronaut teach doctors about careers, money, and leadership? More than you’d expect.

• Generative AI promises smarter clinical decisions—but only if we know how to measure its accuracy and risks.

Testing Your Offer Before You Build Anything - a 30 Day Plan

What if you could validate your side business idea and earn your first $10,000 before building a website or content empire?

In this practical solo episode, host Dr. Mike Woo-Ming draws from his entrepreneurial experience to guide physicians away from common pitfalls like overcomplicating launches with unnecessary infrastructure. He explains the "credentialing mindset" that holds doctors back and advocates for a minimum viable test: Define a specific audience and transformation, run a free webinar with a framework and offer, and promote it via your existing network.

LOUNGE TALK

Medical gaslighting is best understood as an experience rooted in communication breakdowns, not intentional clinician misconduct. Patients often feel dismissed when symptoms are minimized, uncertainty goes unexplained, or “normal” test results lack context—eroding trust and sometimes delaying care. Clinicians, meanwhile, practice under intense system strain marked by short visits, heavy documentation, productivity pressure, and cognitive overload. To cope, they rely on heuristics that can inadvertently lead to early interruptions, overconfidence in tests, or premature diagnostic closure. These mismatches create a gap where reassurance sounds like invalidation and efficiency feels like neglect. The article argues that unexplained uncertainty—not uncertainty itself—is the real trust killer. The solution isn’t more tests or longer visits, but intentional partnership through listening, transparency, and shared reasoning. When care shifts from transactional to collaborative, outcomes become safer, more humane, and more effective.

The article argues that modern meetings are built on a flawed assumption: that more time, more content, and fewer breaks equal higher productivity. In reality, the human brain operates in cycles, not marathons, and relentless scheduling undermines focus, creativity, and decision-making. Drawing on the Move. Think. Rest. (MTR) framework, the author explains that effective meetings are designed as systems that integrate movement, cognitive effort, and recovery. Organizations often invest heavily in collaboration tools but negate their value with exhausting, back-to-back agendas. Research shows that movement—such as standing or walking meetings—enhances idea generation rather than distracting from it. Breaks, far from being unproductive, are essential investments in sustained performance. Meetings that respect biological rhythms leave teams energized, aligned, and more likely to achieve real breakthroughs.

Runpod began as a basement crypto mining project by developers Zhen Lu and Pardeep Singh, who invested $50,000 in GPUs to mine Ethereum. When mining became unprofitable, they repurposed the hardware into AI servers and built software to simplify GPU-based development. To test demand, they posted on Reddit offering free access in exchange for feedback. That grassroots move paid off when a Dell Technologies Capital partner discovered them and reached out. Within nine months of launching in early 2022, the founders quit their day jobs and reached $1 million in revenue. By 2024, Runpod had closed a $20 million seed round backed by Dell and Intel and grown to 100,000 developers. Today, it serves 500,000 developers—including OpenAI and Zillow—and generates $120 million in annual revenue, benefiting from launching AI infrastructure before ChatGPT made it mainstream.

Leading global teams introduces communication challenges that are often subtle but highly disruptive. Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley explains that cross-border and cross-time-zone teams are especially prone to misunderstandings due to differences in culture, language, norms, and access to context. Leaders frequently miss early warning signs, only recognizing problems once trust erodes and collaboration suffers. Without shared understanding, team members may hesitate to contribute fully or misinterpret intent and feedback. Neeley emphasizes that effective global leadership requires intentional communication, not assumptions of alignment. Building trust means creating shared context and clarifying expectations across cultures. When leaders do this well, global teams can move from friction-filled to fully collaborative.

Physician-astronaut Gretchen Green reframes risk not as something to minimize, but as a choice to make intentionally in pursuit of meaningful goals. She explains that deciding the potential cost of failure is preferable to lifelong regret shaped her 40-year journey to space. This mindset now informs her work mentoring physicians who want greater professional agency through paths like expert witness businesses. Green argues that doctors already possess highly transferable skills—explaining complexity, managing uncertainty, and teaching under pressure—that translate well beyond clinical practice. Drawing parallels between medicine, law, and spaceflight, she highlights leadership and communication as the common thread. The growing diversity of commercial astronaut crews reflects a broader shift toward impact, storytelling, and service beyond the mission itself. Ultimately, she frames risk tolerance as a learnable leadership skill that enables fulfillment, financial flexibility, and broader societal benefit.

Generative AI offers potential to enhance clinical decision-making by providing access to up-to-date medical knowledge. However, its safe and ethical use in healthcare requires rigorous evaluation to prevent misinformation or harmful recommendations. This session focuses on Elsevier’s ClinicalKey AI, detailing the methodology used to assess correctness, reliability, and potential risks of AI-generated responses. Participants learn reproducible evaluation techniques to measure AI output and mitigate hallucinations or inaccuracies. Insights from real-world deployment show how structured frameworks can guide responsible AI adoption in clinical environments. Best practices for assessing AI tools in healthcare emphasize ongoing monitoring, transparency, and validation. The goal is to ensure AI acts as a reliable decision-support partner, not a source of harm.

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QUICK BITES

• Navigating international hiring: 7 key mistakes to avoid.

• How leaders can use the 5 'work love languages' to better motivate their teams.

• Manage your AI investments like a portfolio.

• The first decisions of the year matter more than you think.

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