Roy Bahat talks with Dr. Graham Walker, an emergency physician at Kaiser San Francisco about what it's actually like to be a doctor.

They cover the full arc: from deciding to go into medicine in the first place, to navigating the ER as a team sport, to the administrative grind nobody talks about. Graham gets real about whether medicine is still worth it, what makes a good patient, and how geography shapes the culture of care. They also get into medical research: who does it, who funds it, and why you don't need a PhD to publish research. Looking to the future, they dig into how AI might finally fix the way doctors and patients talk past each other.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Preview

00:06:46 – Training

00:38:35 – Clinical Work

02:34:12 – Research

02:43:42 – Administrative & Leadership

02:59:20 – Career Progression

03:56:16 – The System

04:04:43 – What Should You Do If You're Considering Medicine?

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Roy Bahat talks with neuroscientist Bobby Kasthuri, a University of Chicago professor known for his work mapping the brain, about the real mechanics of a career in science. They cover the full arc: from deciding to become a scientist in the first place, to finding ideas worth pursuing, to navigating the tenure clock and beyond. Bobby gets candid about the money side (how scientists fund their research and what they actually get paid), the controversial role of self-promotion, and why so many published research papers turn out to be wrong. They also dig into the emotional reality of scientific life: the idealism, the disappointments, and what keeps you going. Plus, dinosaurs.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Preview

00:01:51 – Big Dino

00:05:41 – Introductions

00:12:29 – Choosing science as a vocation

00:24:13 – Idea

00:51:31 – Investigation

1:23:44 – Communication

1:36:09 – Career progression

2:05:29 – The scientific system

2:35:22 – Parting thoughts for new scientists

2:40:35 – Bobby’s students

Follow Roy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roybahat/

Follow Roy on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/roybahat.com

Subscribe to Roy’s newsletter: https://bit.ly/notanewsletter

Read Roy’s blog: http://roybahat.com/

Read our community-edited reference guide on how to work: https://www.thisisnotadvice.work/

#thisisnotadvice