PODCAST · health
Cut & Tell
by Hippocratic Collective
Cut & Tell is a real-time account of becoming a surgeon—at the exact moment the training wheels come off. Hosted by plastic surgery chief resident Elizabeth Malphrus, this show follows the transition from residency to “year one”: the first, most disorienting, and most defining stretch of a surgical career. It’s where the identity you’ve spent a decade building is suddenly tested—clinically, professionally, and personally. This is not a retrospective. It’s happening now. Through solo episodes, unfiltered conversations, and stories from inside the operating room and beyond, Cut & Tell explores what it actually takes to become a surgeon: the structure of training, the emotional cost, the invisible curriculum, and the tension between perfection and reality in a high-stakes field. It also asks harder questions—about trust in medicine, the role of physicians in a changing cultural landscape, and what it means to step into authority when you’re not sure you’re ready.
Episodes
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You can sue your doctor, but not your insurer?
What if doctors ran medicine the way lawyers run law? Lawyers, accountants and dentists have kept control of their professions, while physicians have lost control of both who owns them and who pays them. Liz looks at corporate practice of medicine laws that exist on paper but not in practice, the...
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Coaching, panic, and the arrival fallacy: a surgery chat with Mel Thacker, MD
What happens when you become the surgeon, pay off the loans, and still feel empty? On Cut & Tell’s first guest episode, Dr. Mel Thacker (ENT, surgeon coach, and host of Surgeons with Purpose) joins me to talk about her new memoir, Scrubbing In. It covers her path from childhood neglect to…
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Financialization of Healthcare: How Money Became the Mission
Administrative bloat, skyrocketing CEO pay, hospital mergers, rural closures. These aren't separate problems. They're symptoms of one syndrome: financialization. In this episode, Liz breaks down how hospitals and practices went from places that care for people to assets that exist to generate...
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Healthcare's Obsession with Metrics, and Why it keeps Backfiring
What happens when a well-intentioned healthcare metric gets turned into a target? Nothing good — and Liz has the receipts. Before medical school, she spent two and a half years as study director for a major National Academies report on healthcare measurement. Then she went to residency, and...
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Private equity is eating healthcare alive
Would you send someone you love to a hospital owned by private equity? Dr. Liz Malphrus breaks down exactly how private equity works, why it's poured billions into healthcare since 2018, and what the data says about the cost, safety, and physician burnout that follow. Plus: the exact questions to...
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Prior auths, step therapy, and AI: how doctors lose their professional sovreignty
Every week, doctors spend 13 hours fighting insurance companies just for permission to treat their patients — and now, under a new Medicare pilot, some of those decisions are being handed to AI. In this episode, Liz digs into prior authorization: where it came from, how it quietly stripped…
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CPT codes in the news: everything you need to know
CMS is proposing a rule that could cut your pay in half just for treating more than one problem per visit — and the comment period closes September 14th. Liz breaks down the proposed change to the 25 modifier, why the "help primary care" logic doesn't hold up, and why the AMA is being sued —…
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How Do Doctors ACTUALLY Get Paid? What Doctors and Residents Need to Know
How does a doctor's visit actually turn into a paycheck? It's more convoluted than how a bill becomes a law — and almost nobody, including most doctors, understands it. In this episode of Cut and Tell, Dr. Liz Malphrus (plastic surgeon, Philadelphia) breaks down the claims-based payment system…
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A Noble Profession Tries to Get Paid: The Historical Roots of a Modern Healthcare Crisis
This is Episode 2 of our series on health policy and economics for doctors! This episode is about laying the historical groundwork for the rest of this season, because so many of our modern healthcare problems can be traced back to decisions made WAY in the past that set us on this course. In…
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Doctors Don't Know How Healthcare Works. Here's Why.
What if doctors understood how the healthcare system actually works? In the first episode of Season 2 of Cut & Tell, Dr. Liz Malphrus kicks off a new series designed to give doctors and residents the health policy knowledge they were never taught in medical school or residency. Liz has a master's...
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How to Choose the Right Medical Specialty | My Journey to Plastic Surgery
Choosing a medical specialty is one of the biggest and most stressful decisions in medicine. In this season finale of Cut & Tell, newly graduated plastic surgeon Dr. Liz Malphrus reflects on her own journey from medical student to plastic surgery. Along the way, she seriously considered hospital...
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My First Day as an Attending Plastic Surgeon | Life After Residency
What does the first day as an attending surgeon actually look like? After years of medical school and plastic surgery residency, Dr. Liz Malphrus officially begins her career as an attending plastic surgeon. But instead of jumping straight into the operating room, the reality is far different—and...
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Starting My First Job as a Plastic Surgeon (What I Had to Buy)
Starting your first attending job means more than just showing up on day one. It means building an entire practice from the ground up. In this episode of Cut & Tell, I take you behind the scenes of what it actually takes to launch a career as a plastic surgeon, from spending nearly $10,000 in a...
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How to Find Your First Doctor Job (What Nobody Teaches You)
No one teaches physicians how to find their first job. After years of medical school and residency, new attendings are suddenly expected to navigate networking, interviews, contracts, compensation, and career decisions, often with little guidance. In this episode of Cut & Tell, newly graduated...
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Confessions of a Former People-Pleasing Plastic Surgeon | Cut & Tell
After six years of surgical residency, I expected to leave with better technical skills. I didn't expect to leave without one of my defining personality traits. In this episode of Cut & Tell, I share the story of how a formal complaint from a senior resident completely changed how I saw myself…
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Chief Resident Advice No One Teaches You | How to Lead a Residency Team
What actually makes a great chief resident? After finishing plastic surgery residency, Dr. Liz Malphrus reflects on one of the most important leadership roles in medical training, and the lessons no one formally teaches. From setting expectations and managing team dynamics to giving meaningful...
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How to Survive (and Thrive) During Intern Year | Advice From a Graduating Resident
Starting residency can feel overwhelming. New city, new hospital, new responsibilities, and suddenly everyone expects you to know what you're doing. In this episode of Cut & Tell, graduating plastic surgery resident Dr. Liz Malphrus shares her most requested advice for incoming interns. Drawing…
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Why Residency Feels Financially Impossible Today | "Back in My Day", Part 2 | Cut & Tell
Residents today earn roughly the same inflation-adjusted salary as residents did decades ago. So why does training feel so much more financially difficult? In this episode of Cut & Tell, plastic surgery resident Dr. Liz Malphrus explores the economic realities facing modern trainees—from…
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"Back In My Day" - Why Today’s Residents Feel Less Prepared Than Ever | Cut & Tell
Attendings often tell stories about residency "back in the day" - more autonomy, more responsibility, more independence. But was training really better, or has the entire system changed? In this episode of Cut & Tell, plastic surgery resident Dr. Liz Malphrus explores why modern residents often...
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The 3 Books Every Resident Should Read Before Graduation | Cut & Tell
What if the most important lessons of residency aren't found in a textbook? With graduation just days away, Liz shares the three pieces of writing that most shaped her understanding of medicine, residency, and life beyond training. From the realities of surgical culture and physician burnout to…
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What Actually Makes a Great Resident | Cut & Tell
What makes a good resident? And beyond that — what actually makes someone great? In this episode of Cut & Tell, Dr. Liz Malphrus breaks down the unwritten skills of residency that no one formally teaches: anticipation, adaptability, reading the room, emotional resilience, communication, and...
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My Museum of Failures | The Stories Behind Becoming a Surgeon
Cut & Tell is where medicine gets honest. In this episode, Dr. Liz Malphrus opens up about the failures, regrets, rejections, and detours that never make it onto a CV. From getting a C in biology at Columbia, to losing out on a White House job she thought would define her future, to walking away...
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Residents Are Being Exploited (And Everyone Knows It) | Cut & Tell with Dr. Liz Malphrus
Cut & Tell is where medicine gets honest. In this episode, Dr. Liz Malphrus gets real about the hidden economics of residency training, and why so many residents feel trapped, undervalued, and burned out before they ever become attendings. With just weeks left before finishing plastic surgery...
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Cut & Tell with Dr. Liz Malphrus | The Truth About Residency (That No One Says Out Loud)
Cut & Tell is where medicine gets honest. In this first episode, Dr. Liz Malphrus, a plastic surgery chief resident, opens up about what residency is actually like, beyond the polished narratives. From the hidden curriculum of training to the emotional weight of becoming a surgeon, this is a…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Cut & Tell is a real-time account of becoming a surgeon—at the exact moment the training wheels come off. Hosted by plastic surgery chief resident Elizabeth Malphrus, this show follows the transition from residency to “year one”: the first, most disorienting, and most defining stretch of a surgical career. It’s where the identity you’ve spent a decade building is suddenly tested—clinically, professionally, and personally. This is not a retrospective. It’s happening now. Through solo episodes, unfiltered conversations, and stories from inside the operating room and beyond, Cut & Tell explores what it actually takes to become a surgeon: the structure of training, the emotional cost, the invisible curriculum, and the tension between perfection and reality in a high-stakes field. It also asks harder questions—about trust in medicine, the role of physicians in a changing cultural landscape, and what it means to step into authority when you’re not sure you’re ready.
HOSTED BY
Hippocratic Collective
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Cut & Tell have?
Cut & Tell currently has 24 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Cut & Tell about?
Cut & Tell is a real-time account of becoming a surgeon—at the exact moment the training wheels come off. Hosted by plastic surgery chief resident Elizabeth Malphrus, this show follows the transition from residency to “year one”: the first, most disorienting, and most defining stretch of a surgical...
How often does Cut & Tell release new episodes?
Cut & Tell has 24 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Cut & Tell?
You can listen to Cut & Tell on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Cut & Tell?
Cut & Tell is created and hosted by Hippocratic Collective.
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