Ep 071 – The Hybrid Specialist and Non-Traditional Careers with Author/Surgeon Dr. Marty Makary

This is an exciting interview with Dr. Marty Makary, a New York Times bestselling author and Johns Hopkins surgeon, who talks about what he calls the “hybrid specialist” and the importance of non-traditional careers in medicine.

Dr. Makary is a New York Times bestselling author and Johns Hopkins general surgeon and Professor of Health Policy. His book The Price We Pay (book trailer below) takes on surprise medical bills and reveals how individuals and businesses can lower their health care costs. Described as “a must-read for every American” by Steve Forbes and a “deep dive into the real issues driving up the cost of health care” by Dr. Don Berwick, The Price We Pay is the “The Big Short” of American Medicine. Makary is a frequent medical guest on NBC and FOX News and a leading voice for physicians, writing for the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Dr. Makary serves as executive director of Improving Wisely, a national physician collaboration to reduce unnecessary medical care and lower health care costs. He is also the founder of Restoring Medicine, an advocacy effort to help people who can’t afford their medical bills. His current research focuses on the appropriateness of medical care, administrative waste, price and quality transparency, and the impact of health care costs on low-income populations.

Dr. Makary was the lead author of the original articles on the Surgical Checklist and later served in leadership with Atul Gawande on the World Health Organization Surgery Checklist project. Makary has published more than 250 scientific articles, including articles on payment reform, vulnerable populations, and opioid prescribing guidelines. He is also an advocate for treating medical conditions when possible with healthy foods and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Makary has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and named one of America’s 20 most influential people in health care by Health Leaders magazine.

Lastly, his book Unaccountable was adapted for television into the hit medical series The Resident. His newest book, The Price We Pay, now available for order online and in stores on September 10, 2019, tells the stories of health care’s disruptive innovators and the new movement to restore medicine to its mission.