Dear Reader,

Welcome to the 5th Edition of NexBioHealth. We bring you an exploration of healthcare fifteen years hence, as envisioned by our contributors. None of us has a crystal ball, of course. And as the great sage Yogi Berra is said to have said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Our intrepid authors have sallied forth nevertheless with their ideas of what lies ahead. We hope you find the discussions invigorating, stimulating, and even inspiring.

Several of our seers are medical students. Most come to the forecasting task with education not only in medicine, albeit still in progress, but in other fields as well. Their articles reflect the versatility and intellectual agility that result from cross-fertilization. In an era when far too many practitioners are discouraged or burned out, these young people bring fresh enthusiasm to the field, and a predominately optimistic view of the future.

Engineer Christian Milaster paints a vivid futuristic picture where waiting rooms exist only in museums; with the aid of AI and a genome defined at birth care is individualized; pills are 3-D printed; and organs are autotransplanted in advance of need.

NexBioHealth does not flee controversy. Readers may recall from the 4th edition Sanjana Sharma’s op-ed “Inclusive Education is Life-Saving,” arguing that comprehensive sex education should include LGBTQ materials. Here, Michelle Cretella, MD and Andre Van Mol, MD provide a vigorous, heavily cited rebuttal. We suggest you read both, and form your own conclusions.

NexBioHealth encourages young people, including students, to offer their thoughts. Pharmacy student Elizabeth Speight reviews Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis, by Lisa Sanders, MD. In an approach few other publications have yet taken, we juxtapose Elizabeth’s review with one from Sanghyun Alexander Kim, MD, a practicing colorectal surgeon. This gives readers an unusual if not unique opportunity not only to read about Dr. Sanders’s book, but to compare its impact on two reviewers at different stages of their careers.

Brook A. Hubner, Psy.D., Assistant Professor in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Department of Medical Education, and Director of the Academic Success Program there, offers her thoughts on how med students can benefit from using AI. Cardiologist Mun Hong, MD, explains why he boldly provides his cell phone number to both referring physicians and to patients. In our “Dear Mentor” section, psychiatry resident Philip Wang, MD, responds to two student submissions: one on the evolving role of AI in patient care, and another on the difficult transition into clinical rotations. Grace Ham, NexBioHealth’s Student Advisory Committee Coordinator, describes our first writing workshop on narrative medicine with Dr. Shanda McManus, an evangelist for the power of story in medicine.

I have an especially strong, personal interest in this issue. I have had the pleasure to know and collaborate with Christian Milaster for more than a decade. My friend and colleague Dr. Hyun, our publisher, offers a thoughtful, well-reasoned argument for making prevention primary. With my good friend business partner Joel Embry, I myself submit a piece asserting that the future of healthcare will include a far heavier emphasis on management at home.

May you enjoy this issue as much as I do.