The Care We Need Requires More Than Medicine | Dr. Monique Nugent, MD

What if the most important part of your hospital stay happens after you leave? We sit down with a seasoned hospitalist who treats complex conditions on the floor and still argues that health is mostly made at home, at work, and in the community. From refeeding syndrome and new-onset renal failure to the familiar rhythms of CHF and COPD, she shows how the real challenge isn’t just diagnosing accurately, it’s designing a plan that survives insurance hurdles, pharmacy costs, transportation gaps, and the realities of daily life.We'll step inside the team-based engine of inpatient care: bedside nurses who catch subtle changes, therapists who prevent setbacks with the right equipment and diet choices, and case managers who translate a great medical plan into something you can actually access. We talk plainly about burnout, the limits of what a prescription can fix, and why a policy lens helped convert her frustration into a Harvard degree.Her career path wasn’t straight. She moved from neuroscience to psychiatry to internal medicine, rejected the ICU after listening to her body’s signals, and found a home in hospital medicine. That honesty becomes practical guidance for students: keep moving forward, define today’s answer, and trust resilience over perfection. We also spotlight her book, Prescription For Admission, a patient-first guide to navigating hospital stays, asking better questions, and preparing for a safe return home.Finally, we tackle the chaos of health advice on social media. Learn how to decide who deserves your trust, what evidence literacy looks like, and how to align sources with your values without falling for trends. If you care about safer discharges, smarter care plans, and credible information in a noisy world, this conversation will change how you think about the hospital and about health itself. To connect with Dr. Monique Nugent: LinkedIn: moniquenugent-mdmph/Instagram: the_happiest_hospitalistTikTok: Mnugent-happiesthospitalistAmazon: Prescription for AdmissionPodcast: Prescription for AdmissionSupport the showPlease connect and say hello >>> Email me!              Support shadow me next >>> Thank you!Want to be a guest? >>>  Click here!Virtual shadowing is an important tool to use when planning your medical career. Whether as a doctor, a physician assistant, a therapist or nurse, here Shadow Me Next! we want to provide you with the resources you need to find your role in healthcare and understand your place in medicine.