The Medical Dads Podcast

Doomscrolling wastes your time, makes you dumb and insecure, and teaches you nothing. But is that any different from Saturday morning cartoons from back in the day? Is it any different from adults checking their phones before bed? Yes and no. Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harman discuss the effects of phone screens on children, and the measures their own parents took to get them off the TV screen to be more pro...

Laundry machines? Yes. Grill cleaners that suck? Probably not. In this episode, Dr. Hu and Dr. Harman discuss many different time-saving gadgets and machines, and most importantly, whether or not they are actually worth the time saved. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

$100 a month? $10 a month? 10 cents a month? Should you give your children money on a timely basis or after doing a good job at something? A time wage or a piece wage? Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harman explore different recommendations for how much you should give your kid, and how often, as well as the fact that 10 cents could get you an issue of Superman back in the day, but now you have to spend $10 inste...

What parent hasn’t been ready to go pick their kid up just to get a text asking, “Daddy, can I stay a little longer?” Should you encourage your kids to invest time taking part in activities that they won’t continue into adult life? How much time spent on one thing is too much? All these questions, and more, will be answered in this week’s episode of the Medical Dads ! Check out Dave’s Substack for...

In this episode, Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harman discuss going on trips while injured, dealing with the Pandora’s Box that is the inherent health anxiety that comes with being a doctor, and getting turned into a sunny vacation person by your spouse and children. Oh, and also, having a beautiful time in the Caribbean and Central America. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

How do you get your kid to learn an instrument? How do you help them get over performance anxiety? How do you get your kid to take part in music festivals and competitions? Is learning an instrument even worth the cost of classes, not to mention the price of a guitar, a piano, or — worst of all — a harp? Listen to this week’s episode of Medical Dads to find out the answers to all these elusive que...

How do you help your daughter navigate the artificial social ladder between sitting alone at lunch and being prom queen? How does a kid get over the mortifying fear of inviting someone over for movie night? Is it possible to help your children choose their friends well? Spoiler alert: there’s no straight answer to any of these questions. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substa...

The answer to the question in the title? “Probably.” Dr. Hsu tells Dr. Harman of his experiences doing prep and “going under” for this operation. They also discuss the statistical rise in cases of colon cancer, and the increasingly younger population being affected by it. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

Despite thinking dream analysis tends to be bogus, in this episode Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harman delve into the meaning of a dream involving a cool jazz band made up of ducks and an evil gang of home repair contractors that are out to kill you. Then, they discuss the ways university programs and medical residencies judge their applicants. Is the subconscious really what is driving out judgements even whe...

This week, Dr. Harman comes to the conclusion that Dr. Hsu is addicted to overworking himself. How do you balance work and life without underpaying attention to either one? Is avoiding burnout all about learning to love your work? Is there even a difference between work and life? All these questions — and more — answered on this episode of the Medical Dads Podcast! Check out Dave’s Substack for mo...

In this episode of the Medical Dads, Dr. Harman and Dr. Hsu talk about the intricacies of navigating insurance as a doctor, witnessing patients deal with fine-print issues in life and disability insurance, and having to deal with certain physical therapists whose practices remind Dr. Hsu of Tony Soprano. The doctors also talk about socialized health care in Canada, but first they start off with a...

The Medical Dads come back from holiday break! In this episode, they talk about Artificial Intelligence — how students are using Chat-GPT to cheat, whether they are getting good and accurate answers through AI, and how having a quick-answer tool at every child’s fingertips can impact the role of education and their drive to learn for themselves. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhs...

In this episode, the Medical Dads get into present ideas, including expired food and stories about patients who give you literal trash from a garbage bin. Dr. Hsu’s pessimism about the state of the world clashes with Dr. Harmon’s relative optimism, and they discuss the age-old question: What is the meaning of Christmas? Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

Classroom gerbils, goldfish, and cats and dogs. In this episode, Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harmon discuss the effects of pets on patients, their children, and their relationships. Both relate their personal journeys to pet-unfriendly people to pet owners and lovers. As is almost tradition, this episode includes discussion and reference to the Bill Cosby Show and Ghostbusters (Dr. Harmon’s cat is named Egon...

Dr. Hsu’s hectic week got even crazier place when a teacher at his daughter’s school was arrested for behaving inappropriately towards a student in their class. Although Dr. Hsu’s children did not know the teacher, the entire community was shaken up over the incident. https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

Dr. Hsu’s sink is haunted, finally making Dr. Harmon’s Ghostbusters knowledge handy — but not as handy as a plumbing knowledge would have been. In this episode, they discuss growing old, and the prospects of growing even older. What will their relationship with their children be like once they become seniors and retire? Dr. Hsu and Dr. Harmon talk about the possibility of taking care of their gran...

Following last week’s optimistic discussion about the Blue Jays, here comes the eulogy for their 2025 Postseason. After that, lots of discussion about school prestige, extracurriculars, and teacher engagement — as well as the difficulty of separating fact from fiction in The Cosby Show. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

This week, after a retroactively ominous conversation about the Blue Jays’ prospects before Game 6 of the World Series, the Medical Dads discuss the ups and downs of public education in Canada. Then they talk about whether private schools mean better teachers or just wealthier basketball coaches. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

This week on Medical Dads, doctors Stu and Dave talk about their children’s extracurricular activities. In this episode, they touch on the pros and cons of competitive sports, trying to enthuse your kids about piano and violin, and the difference between choosing their activities for them and letting them choose for themselves. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

Dave’s heel arc against Halloween is officially over! This about-face comes as a convenient way to get rid of all the candy patients bring into his practice, and for his kids to hand it out rather than gobble it up. Dr. Stu also recommends the best movies to watch with kids, like Scooby-Doo, The Simpsons ’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, and the TV version of Ghostbusters ... way too much Ghostbus...

Is there a difference between physical self-care and mental self-care? What does self-care look like? Is it nature walks, exercise, Netflix binge-watching, or mindfulness exercises? Doctors Dave and Stu go into their favorite examples, including spending time with friends, spending time with family, and spending time alone. They also discuss the prospects for the Blue Jays, people who pose as avid...

In a world where adults rely on computers, phones, or tablets to get through everyday life, how can you raise your kids without turning them into screen zombies? Doctors Dave and Stu discuss this and more! They long for the days when Netflix binge-watching was the worst they had to worry about — now they have YouTube and live streaming to ruin their kids’ attention spans! Check out Dave’s Substack...

How do you get abs in one day? Stu and Dave discuss negative influences on their children, such as the internet and bad friends, that lead to problems such as the need for instant gratification and body-image self-consciousness. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

Dave tries to convince Stu that he could replace Hasan Minhaj, Stu tries to explain Watchmen to Dave, and they both try to get their children to be thankful for what they have. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, Dave and Stu debate major philosophical questions, such as whether or not it’s possible to separate the art from the artist; what the definition of a preteen is; and whether or not you should be showing your preteen The Cosby Show.