New Book from AAPL Examines the Human Cost of Modern Medicine

Practicing While Human by Ryan Nadelson, MD, Explores What Happens When Care Collides with Metrics

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) announces the upcoming publication of Practicing While Human: A Doctor's Journey Beyond the White Coat by Ryan Nadelson, MD, a practicing internal medicine physician, department chair, and nationally recognized physician-writer.

As medicine becomes increasingly governed by documentation requirements, insurer oversight, and productivity thresholds, Practicing While Human offers a clear-eyed, deeply human account of what it means to care for patients inside today's healthcare system. Drawing on frontline clinical experience and policy insight, Nadelson examines how structural pressures reshape clinical judgment, fracture professional identity, and quietly erode the conditions necessary for meaningful care.

"Modern medicine asks physicians to be flawless while dismantling the conditions that make good medicine possible," said Nadelson. "This book is for clinicians who feel that tension every day — who entered medicine to care for people and now practice within systems that make presence, reflection, and connection increasingly difficult."

Unlike theory-driven leadership texts, Practicing While Human is grounded in lived experience. Nadelson writes as a physician practicing and leading in real time, exploring the erosion of judgment under relentless metrics, the emotional labor physicians carry behind professional composure, and the widening gap between how medicine is practiced and why physicians were called to it.

The book arrives at a pivotal moment. As Medicare Advantage quality measures reset, telemedicine regulations evolve, and primary care faces deepening workforce strain, physician leaders are being asked to navigate unprecedented complexity — often without language that reflects their lived reality.

"Dr. Nadelson has emerged as a powerful voice for physicians navigating the complexities of modern healthcare," said Peter Angood, MD, president and CEO of the AAPL. "His ability to blend personal narrative with policy clarity creates a resource that is both deeply validating and immediately practical for physician leaders at every stage."

Nadelson's writing has reached national audiences through STAT, The Hill, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MedPage Today, KevinMD, and publications of the American Association for Physician Leadership. His work is widely recognized for its moral clarity, emotional restraint, and grounded analysis of healthcare's evolving landscape.

Practicing While Human is written for practicing physicians, physician leaders, residents, fellows, medical directors, and healthcare administrators — anyone seeking to understand the human reality shaping modern medical practice.

About the American Association for Physician Leadership

The core philosophy of the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) is that leadership is learned. AAPL is focused on the personal transformation of all physicians, and through them the organizations they serve. With the goal of improving patient outcomes, workforce wellness, and a refinement of all healthcare delivery, AAPL has remained the only association solely focused on providing professional development, leadership education, and management training exclusively for physicians. Since its founding in 1975, AAPL has empowered more than 300,000 physicians across 35 countries—including CEOs, chief medical officers, and physicians at all levels of healthcare. www.physicianleaders.org

Contact:

Elliot Jones
[email protected]
(813) 636-2842

SOURCE American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)