Every year, the medical world expands: new research is published, treatments evolve, and strange cases surface that challenge what we thought we knew.
Podcasts have become one of the fastest ways to keep up, offering everything from clinical deep dives to rare patient stories you won’t find in a textbook.
If you’re brushing up on guidelines, sharpening your diagnostic skills, or just want to hear how other professionals think through complex problems, here are ten of the most valuable medical podcasts you can listen to right now.
10 of the Best Medical Podcasts Right Now
1. MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries
MrBallen takes his signature storytelling style—usually reserved for strange disappearances and twisted true crime—and applies it to the most baffling cases ever documented in modern medicine. These aren’t just odd diagnoses; they’re jaw-dropping, sometimes terrifying stories of people who survived the impossible or died from something no one saw coming. Each episode is meticulously narrated, pulling you in with just enough clinical detail to feel grounded, but not so much that it ever feels dry.
2. JAMA Clinical Reviews
This podcast gives working doctors and medical students exactly what they need: clinical updates backed by research, stripped of fluff, and straight from the source. Instead of scrolling through endless papers or sitting through lectures, listeners get high-level insights from JAMA editors and guest experts in under 30 minutes. The tone is professional but clear, often using case examples or meta-analysis breakdowns to make the research more practical.
3. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin dive into the bizarre medical history books, exposing everything from bloodletting to radium pills to goat testicle transplants with equal parts accuracy and wit. Each episode plays like a chaotic but charming dinner conversation, where you learn something grim, laugh a little too much, and walk away both smarter and mildly disturbed. Sydnee keeps it tight with the facts while Justin throws in the questions you’re secretly thinking but too polite to ask. It’s weird medicine done right, and it’s probably the only place you’ll hear about powdered mummies and leeches in the same breath.
4. The Clinical Problem Solvers
This one’s designed for the clinician who thrives on diagnostic puzzles, not memorized lists—and it doesn’t hold your hand. Each episode revolves around a real case, slowly unfolded with layers of reasoning, differential-building, and problem-solving as if you were rounding with some of the sharpest minds in internal medicine. You’re not just listening to a diagnosis; you’re walking through every twist, wrong turn, and gut-check along the way.
5. This Podcast Will Kill You
Epidemiologists Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke blend storytelling, microbiology, and public health into episodes that feel like the best kind of medical lecture—the one where you’re actually paying attention. Each disease gets the full treatment: where it came from, what it does to the body, how it spread, and why it still matters. The format includes a quirky “Quarantini” segment, but the rest stays focused and informative, giving listeners the full arc of each disease’s story.
6. The Short Coat Podcast
Hosted by medical students from the University of Iowa, this show captures the messiness and magic of med school without trying to make it sound more heroic than it is. They talk about burnout, test anxiety, awkward patient encounters, and all the behind-the-scenes stuff that gets glossed over in brochures. While it’s meant to inform and support current and future students, the honesty and humor also make it incredibly relatable for anyone in healthcare.
7. Advances in Care
This podcast showcases cutting-edge treatments and research coming out of NewYork-Presbyterian, but it does so through the voices of doctors who are actually in the trenches. The interviews are thoughtful, precise, and often centered around how new medical insights are transforming patient outcomes in real-time. There’s no filler here—just direct access to what’s new, what works, and what’s changing in everything from cardiac care to surgical robotics. It’s ideal if you want the clinical advancements without wading through a journal or abstract.
8. AMA Update
Think of this one as a pulse-check on healthcare in America, blending policy, practice, and public health into short, digestible updates. It covers everything from vaccine rollouts and AI regulations to physician burnout and mental health access, always keeping the focus on what matters for patients and providers. Hosted by the American Medical Association, it cuts through noise and gives you the what, why, and what now of each issue.
9. The Health Curve
Dr. Jason Arora breaks down some of the most misunderstood or overlooked health issues, often tying in patient stories, cultural stigma, and gaps in care that rarely get attention. This podcast isn’t afraid to call out what’s broken in the system, but it does so with clarity and empathy, not just outrage. Arora takes time to make sure every topic—from obesity to health misinformation—is framed with both scientific grounding and real-world context. It’s a podcast that wants to raise the average person’s health literacy and isn’t afraid to get political when the topic demands it.
10. Science Friday
While not strictly a medical podcast, Science Friday covers enough on health, biology, and cutting-edge medical tech to earn a spot on this list. Hosted by Ira Flatow, it features scientists, doctors, and researchers who know how to explain complex ideas without dumbing them down. You’ll hear about CRISPR, pandemic updates, vaccine breakthroughs, and all the strange stuff happening at the bleeding edge of human health. What makes it stand out is the storytelling: smart questions, sharp editing, and a format that makes big science feel close to home.
