Ditch The Labcoat

Dr. Mark Bonta reads the obituary section every weekend. Not morbidly. But because when he cares for patients in the hospital, he sees them in a blue gown having their worst day. He never knows their life, their legacy, or how they wanted to be remembered. The obituary fills in the gaps. Katie Engelhart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, do...

We're going to cure cancer in our lifetime." It's a rallying cry at every charity event, every fundraiser, every race. But what does that actually mean? Dr. Sonal Gandhi, a medical oncologist, joins Ditch the Labcoat to break down what most people don't understand: we already cure cancer. All the time. Early stage cancers like breast, colon, and skin cancer caught in time have cure rates approachi...

Dr. Dave Clarke returns to Ditch the Labcoat to dig deeper into something medicine still doesn't talk about enough: what happens when your body creates real, debilitating symptoms but there's nothing structurally wrong. This isn't about imaginary illness or psychosomatic complaints. This is about the brain physically changing in response to stress, trauma, and unresolved emotional burdens, and man...

Alfredo Borodowski has lived through public failure, bipolar disorder, and the work of rebuilding identity from the ground up. Now he helps leaders navigate disruption without losing their humanity. In this episode of Ditch the Labcoat, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Alfredo to explore what happens to meaning when systems accelerate. They discuss why productivity metrics fail to capture human perfo...

Joshua Resnikoff was a bench scientist at Harvard's Wyss Institute, surrounded by cutting-edge science.   He believed healthcare could solve anything. Then his son started having unexplained recurring fevers. Monthly ER visits. Ice baths to prevent seizures. Years of diagnostic uncertainty. Finally, a diagnosis: PFAPA, a hyper-inflammatory condition so rare only 500 kids in the US have it. The doc...

AI is everywhere in healthcare conversations. This episode asks the more uncomfortable question: what is it actually doing in real hospitals, with real patients, and real constraints? Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of SeamlessMD, for a clinician-first, workflow-grounded conversation about where AI delivers value today, where it still falls apart, and why “smart” t...

Welcome back to Ditch the Labcoat for our 100th episode. Today we tackle a challenge that touches millions yet remains widely misunderstood: falls and balance loss in aging adults. Host Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Dan Metcalfe, Founder and CEO of Born SuperHuman and Total Balance Company, to challenge the dangerous assumption that falling is just "part of getting older." They reveal how falls ar...

In this episode of Ditch the Labcoat, Dr. Mark Bonta does something different. For the first time on the podcast, he speaks with a former patient. Nora Rabah Rodden joins the show not as a clinician, but as someone who lived for years with debilitating symptoms that medicine couldn't explain or fix. Despite normal tests and repeated reassurance, her pain, GI symptoms, fatigue, and nervous system d...

Dr. Ford Brewer’s story is not about hacks or shortcuts. It is about a physician who left the adrenaline of the emergency department to confront a quieter, more uncomfortable reality. Most of the heart attacks and strokes he saw should never have happened. At Hopkins, in public health, and later in his own practice, he realized how profoundly our future health is shaped by habits that feel small i...

In this special New Year’s Eve solo episode, Dr. Mark Bonta steps away from the guest format to reflect on a landmark year for Ditch the Labcoat and to share where the show is headed next. After surpassing 50 episodes and approaching episode 100, Dr. Bonta looks back on how the podcast evolved in 2025. What started as a more traditional interview-style medical show has grown into deeper, more phil...

In this episode, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with pediatrician and medical journalist Dr. Alok Patel to unpack what it really means to keep kids healthy in a chaotic healthcare system and a distracted digital world. Starting with a story about Mark’s nine year old getting injured at hockey, they dive into how parents can respond to injuries and illness without panicking, how to check your own emotion...

Psychotherapist and author Leah Marone joins Mark for a grounded conversation about why so many of us fall into the trap of overfunctioning for others. Leah, whose new book Serial Fixer explores this exact pattern, explains how emotional mirroring and urgency cycles show up in families, friendships, and clinical environments. She walks through the patterns she sees when people try to rescue or fix...

Invisible illnesses shape millions of lives, yet most patients spend years in the system without answers. Dr. David Clarke has spent his career at the intersection of internal medicine, psychology, and mind-body research. His mission is clear. Help clinicians recognize when symptoms are driven by the nervous system rather than structural disease. Help patients finally feel seen. And give the medic...

In this deeply human episode, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with cardiac surgeon, scientist, and writer Dr. Paul Fedak for an honest look at the hidden cost of excellence in medicine. Dr. Fedak shares the story of the injury that forced him out of the operating room and into a profound reckoning with identity, purpose, and the culture of silence that surrounds clinician suffering. Drawing from years as...

Clinical psychologist Dr. Chloe Carmichael joins Dr. Mark Bonta for an important and timely conversation about free speech, emotional regulation, and the psychology of open dialogue. Drawing on her clinical work and her new book, Dr. Carmichael explains how suppressing opinions affects stress, anxiety, and even physical health. She describes her own experience with media self censorship, the impac...

In this powerful conversation, Matteo Esposito shares the story that shaped his mission to help others reclaim their lives from addiction and mental illness. Matteo is a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach and co-founder of Invisible Challenge, a movement focused on ending the stigma around invisible illnesses including bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, and suicidality. Mark and Matteo exp...

Your voice says more than you think. In this episode, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Dr. Kang Hsu, Chief Medical Officer of Canary Speech, to explore how AI and vocal biomarkers could make the human voice the next vital sign in medicine. They unpack the science behind this breakthrough, showing how subtle shifts in tone, rhythm, and cadence can reveal early signs of depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s...

Welcome back to Ditch the Labcoat. This week, host Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Dr. Elliot Justin, emergency physician, innovator, and founder of FirmTech, for a conversation that’s equal parts fascinating, funny, and paradigm-shifting. Together, they explore a topic that most people find awkward to talk about—but everyone is curious about: male sexual health. Dr. Justin shares how a personal inj...

Halloween isn’t just about candy and costumes. In this special episode, Dr. Mark Bonta explores the science behind our favorite spooky-season habits, from the myth of the “sugar high” to the real risks behind thrill rides and haunted houses. He unpacks how our brains process fear and excitement, why some people chase adrenaline while others avoid it, and how risk-benefit thinking can make us safer...

Welcome back to Ditch the Labcoat. This week, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Dr. Filippo Ongaro. He is a physician, bestselling author, and former flight surgeon at the European Space Agency who joins Dr. Bonta in the studio to explore a topic that’s redefining how we think about aging: the pursuit of healthspan over lifespan. In a world obsessed with biohacking, supplements, and quick fixes, Dr. O...

In this week’s episode of Ditch The Labcoat, host Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with gastroenterologist and podcast host Dr. Neil Parikh—known from The Gut Doctor Podcast—for a fascinating journey through one of the most complex and misunderstood systems in the human body: the gut. Together, they unpack the modern obsession with “gut health,” the hype around the microbiome, and why everyone from wellne...

This episode applies a clinical lens to the mindset first philosophy shared by Dr. Cassidy Preston in Part 1.  In this insightful episode, Dr. Mark Bonta, Dr. Sebastian Mafeld, and Dr. Cassidy Preston delve into the intersection of mindset and medicine. They explore how principles from sports psychology can enhance medical practice, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, presence, and continu...

In this conversation, Dr. Mark Bonta and Cassidy Preston explore the critical role of mental resilience in high-stress environments, particularly in sports and medicine. They discuss Cassidy's journey from being an elite athlete to a coach focused on mental skills training, the evolution of mental coaching in various fields, and the importance of measuring success through mindset rather than just...

This week's episode will be with Dr. Bijaj Patel a nephrologist who has done amazing work developing transitional dialysis centers. DISCLAMER >>>>>>    The Ditch Lab Coat podcast serves solely for general informational purposes and does not serve as a substitute for professional medical services such as medicine or nursing. It does not establish a doctor/patient relationship, and...

Welcome back to Ditch the Labcoat, where we break down the highs, lows, and real talk of life on the frontlines of medicine. In this episode, Dr. Mark Bonta sits down with Brian Ferguson—a former military special operator and founder of Arena Labs—to explore what it truly means to perform under pressure in today’s healthcare landscape. Drawing on his unique experience in both military special oper...