HalMD

Dr. Haleem is a board-certified award-winning internal medicine physician with an obsession for patient advocacy.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

“Everybody wanna be a doctor, don’t nobody wanna do these UWorld blocks.”

Iykyk

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Stop saying "doctors only get 30 minutes of nutrition training."

That number is made up. Completely fabricated. Someone on Instagram said it and you ran with it because it confirmed what you already wanted to believe.

Here's what the data actually shows:

U.S. medical students get an average of 19 hours of dedicated nutrition education over four years. That's not enough. But it's not 30 minutes. And 71% of medical schools fall below the 25-hour minimum that's been recommended since 1985.

Real problem. But they’re not bringing it up because they care about medical education reform. They bring it up to sell something.

Nutrition isn't taught in some isolated 30-minute lecture and then never mentioned again. It's built into endocrinology, cardiology, nephrology, GI, obesity medicine, diabetes, preventive medicine. Physicians manage nutrition-sensitive disease every day. That's not a side quest. That's the job.

Physicians log 10,000+ hours of training. They're interpreting labs, adjusting medications, managing comorbidities, and making decisions where getting nutrition wrong can kill someone. That's a different universe from watching a YouTube video about seed oils.

And the profession isn't sitting around pretending the gap doesn't exist. In 2025, HHS got over 50 medical schools to commit to a 40-hour nutrition minimum. The ACGME is making nutrition training mandatory for residency accreditation. JAMA Network Open published 36 proposed competencies. Doctors identified the problem. Doctors are fixing it. What exactly have you done besides post about it?

Physicians also work with registered dietitians. On purpose. That's the standard of care for obesity, metabolic disease, GLP-1 therapy. Not because doctors are incompetent. Because that's how real healthcare works. No one clinician does everything.

The "30 minutes" myth survives because it's profitable. It sells supplements. It sells detox kits. It sells the idea that your doctor is clueless so you'll trust the guy with the discount code instead.

Does medicine deserve criticism for under-emphasizing nutrition and lifestyle? Yes. Doctors will tell you that. I tell my patients that. The difference is we publish the research, change the curriculum, and update the guidelines. We don't just make content about it.

I run a hormone optimization practice. I prescribe TRT. I manage GLP-1 therapy. I deal with metabolic disease every single day. And I'm telling you that nutrition is inseparable from every outcome I manage. Testosterone doesn't fix a garbage diet. Semaglutide doesn't outwork alcohol and no sleep. That's not something I learned in a 30-minute lecture. That's something I learned across a decade of training and thousands of patients.

Gaps in nutrition education get fixed with better training. Not by dismissing people who spent a decade learning human physiology so you can take advice from someone whose credentials are abs and a podcast.

Next time someone hits you with the "30 minutes" line, ask them one thing:

Where did you train?

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

@DutchRojas 😂

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

@DrCamRx Noooo. The GymBros Trainer selling Reta from his duffel bag was wrong about Reta??! 😜

Link to the study doc @DrCamRx ?

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

How to convince the wife (academic internal medicine physician) to get you a sauna for Father’s Day.

(See previous posts, follow me for more marriage advice)

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Regular Finnish sauna bathing demonstrates cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurocognitive benefits with a dose-response relationship, with optimal outcomes observed at 4–7 sessions per week and durations exceeding 45 minutes weekly. The most robust evidence supports reduced cardiovascular mortality, improved vascular function, and lower blood pressure, though data are predominantly observational from Finnish populations with limited randomized controlled trials to establish causality.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Suggested Protocol:

Temperature:
73–80°C (Finnish sauna)
(Lower temperatures (45–60°C) used in far-infrared protocols.)

Duration per session:
15–30 minutes.
Progressive increase from 8 to 15 minutes in deconditioned patients.

Frequency:
2–7 sessions per week.
4+ sessions weekly associated with maximal cardiovascular benefit.

Post-session recovery:
20–30 minutes seated rest.
Cold water immersion optional; monitor for orthostatic symptoms.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Amir has transitioned from waking everyone up at 3am every night this week to now going to sleep at 11pm and waking up at 5am like he’s a CEO biohacker.

Now I understand why my pops would randomly fall asleep on the couch on the weekends. We were 5 kids. My guy was just exhausted.

At least it’s the weekend. Let the birthday parties begin…

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

He said he’d been feeling off for two years. Low energy. No drive. Gaining weight even though nothing had changed. Waking up tired.

He’d already seen two doctors. Both told him his labs were fine.

He was starting to think it was in his head.

That’s what this system does to men. It dismisses them long enough that they start dismissing themselves.

Your labs being “in range” is not the same as your labs being optimal. Those are two completely different conversations. Most men never get the second one.

You are not lazy. You are not just getting older. You are not imagining it.

Go find a doctor who will actually look at the full picture.

You don’t owe anyone an apology for wanting to feel like yourself again.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Parents: hearing from colleagues that there’s a growing trend of high school students experimenting with “peptides” like tesamorelin, retatrutide, and GHK-Cu.

These are not supplements. They are hormone-active compounds.

In teenagers, they can:
• Disrupt normal puberty
• Accelerate bone growth and potentially reduce final adult height
• Affect fertility in boys
• Increase blood sugar and diabetes risk

Most are obtained from unregulated online sources and require self-injection.

If your child mentions “research peptides” or injectable performance enhancers, take it seriously.

This isn’t “biohacking”, it’s endocrine disruption during a critical stage of development.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

From this grateful immigrant American: thank you to the brave men and women who gave everything for the greatest country in the world. 🇺🇸

This weekend, take a moment to reflect on those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted today.

May we never forget their courage, sacrifice, and the families who continue to carry their legacy.

Freedom is never free.

#FreedomIsNotFree #HonorAndRemember #MemorialDay

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

I did 90 pushups this morning and my 2 year old looked directly at me and said “Pa!” so yeah I’m gonna be unstoppable today.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Marion: “Amir behaved so well today!”

5 mins later….

Marion: “Babe…thats not chocolate hes wiping on his shirt!!!”

#HaveABabyTheySaid #It’llBeFunTheySaid

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Maybe the “root cause” of being able to call yourself a doctor should be finishing a medical residency and getting board certified…..

#RandomThoughtsAsIRunBackgroundChecksOnThese”Doctors”

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

@randyviolamd asked me what I wanted out of the surgery. It wasn't golf, pickleball, padel or pushups. I just wanted to be able to pick up my son. Forever grateful.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

85 pushups this morning.
One year ago today, I had revision surgery on my dominant hand.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Note for the docs reading this:
When I asked my ortho buddies about peptides for recovery, many said go for it.
You'd be surprised how many orthos are quietly using peptides in their own practices. The field is moving faster than people realize.

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

Mother’s Day Weekend Poop Updates: The baby is only supposed to take a 15mg of Lansoprazole and a HALF dose of Miralax with breakfast. Mom or nanny usually prep his breakfast but guess who decided to “help” yesterday and gave him a FULL dose of Miralax…..thereby causing the massive blowout last night.

#DadLife
#HappyMothersDay

[HalMD @DrHalMDMBA]

The baby just had a MASSIVE blowout and theres shit everywhere.

I don’t think we’re gonna be invited here again…