Once a week, Dr. Lin teaches students about medicine both as a physician and a patient. His course covers topics including having difficult conversations amid uncertainties in diagnosis and the psychological impact of cancer.
After his diagnosis, Dr. Lin said that the biggest shift for him was recognizing the importance of hope.
“As both a physician and patient, I understand that if you look strictly at the numbers, it can be overwhelming,” he told Becker’s. “It’s difficult to live with that reality every day without something to hold onto. So now, in my patient discussions, I emphasize both the reality of the situation and the importance of hope. Patients need optimism. They need something to help them move forward through a difficult journey.”
And through his difficult journey, Dr. Lin has found a few areas where medical education and health systems could improve patient care and access.
Changes for medical education
There have been big culture and curriculum shifts in the last decades to improve the way physicians learn about patient experience and how to interact with them, but a central challenge remains: The curriculum is already packed and there’s only so much time.
But Dr. Lin and his colleagues have been working to improve access to patient-centered care education without expanding class time. In one class, students follow patients longitudinally at home to gain a deeper understanding of the patient’s life outside of a healthcare setting.
“Visiting a patient in their home, in their own setting, fundamentally changes the way you see them. It’s not just about their disease, it’s about their life,” Dr. Lin said. “These kinds of courses are invaluable especially for preclinical students. Once students enter their clinical years, they’re so busy learning the mechanics of medicine that it’s easy to lose sight of the human side.”
Those experiences stick with students and reinforce the “why” behind medicine: to truly help people.
Dr. Lin suggested medical schools could also reimagine the traditional block rotation structure to create something that more accurately reflects real clinical practice. This could include a blended approach to medicine and surgery training.
“We need to continue innovating so that medical training is both clinically rigorous and deeply human,” he said.
What systems could do better
For systems, Dr. Lin said the greatest change comes in access — but not the geographic or appointment kind.
“I speak English,” he said. “I have health insurance. I have additional financial resources. I have reliable transportation. I also have a strong support network, job flexibility and medical knowledge. Because of these privileges, I was diagnosed within six days — from chest X-ray to biopsy result. That’s record-breaking speed. But that shouldn’t be the exception, it should be the standard.”
Real access means removing barriers of all kinds. That process starts with rebalancing the structure of healthcare not in terms of appointments but in how the system itself functions. One of the greatest pain points is insurance and billing.
“It’s a fragmented system: The insurer tells you to talk to the provider and the provider tells you to talk to the insurer,” he said. “At the end of the day, nothing gets resolved and the patient is stuck in the middle. This helps no one.”
His suggestions for change? Reduce bureaucratic complexity, improve patient navigation services and expand chaplaincy and spiritual care, especially in outpatient care. It also means creating a system where physicians have enough time to have meaningful conversations with patients.
“At the end of the day, healthcare isn’t just about procedures and medications — it’s about humanity,” Dr. Lin said. “And we need to structure our systems to reflect that.”
From physician to leaders
If there’s one message Dr. Lin wants hospital leaders to hear, it’s this: Don’t lose sight of the human side of medicine.
“While all this [upcoming] technology is amazing, at the end of the day, it’s just a tool,” he said. “Technology exists to help us take better care of people. I would remind everyone in healthcare leadership: All the AI and digital advancements are meaningless if we forget the patient. Let’s use innovation to empower, not replace, patient-centered care. Because, at the core of everything we do, it’s about one thing: Helping our fellow human beings.”
