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Articles by Ryan Mccarthy
Flawed Jury Instruction Creates Confusion for Whistleblowers
Summary Overbroad jury instructions result in reversal. In the underlying case, a former investment bank employee alleged he was improperly terminated after reporting that certain of the bank’s traders violated SEC regulations. A federal court of appeals found the jury instructions were overbroad and held that an employee’s protected whistleblowing activity had to be a direct cause of termination—not one that “tended to” affect his termination.
How a Broadway comedy saved an internal medicine doctor
“As a witness to so much sadness and pain, how do you keep from getting depressed?” As an internal medicine doctor, I have heard versions of this question for decades. And, despite a myriad of changes in my career, my answer has never wavered. And while there are many comedians and funny things, one particular evening more than any other reveals how humor is my personal wellspring, the one that keeps me evergreen.
The Role of Land Power in the Future Global Security Environment
Building and sustaining effective land forces is a long-term endeavor. High-quality leadership, unit cohesion, and operational competence require decades of sustained investment in people, training, and professional development. Unlike systems that can be rapidly acquired or surged, land power depends on institutional depth and experience.
AI in health care: Why artificial intelligence cannot replace human empathy
If you trust the titans of industry, and I do not, we are led to believe that, just around the proverbial corner, the equivalent of C-3PO will arrive to improve health care. How wonderful! You might remember the fussy, shiny droid, the golden companion of R2-D2 in the Star Wars films. Fluent in over six million forms of communication, C-3PO bubbled with personality, but it was his “desire” to do the right thing that made him special.
The poet who changed my DNA
In 1983, The Outsiders featured Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and, augmented by Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic genius, it planted a seed, one I was unaware of at the time. Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
Why we can't forget public health
Standing in the middle of the parking lot of the Berkeley 2000 Recreation Center in February 2021, Molly Humphreys, in a single frame, captures an important moment in the public’s collective health, though it can be easily missed if we don’t pause and absorb its significance. In the chaos of 2025, it would be careless to not linger on this image. A masked man greets the viewer and, without close viewing, it is easy to overlook who he is, what he is doing, and why he matters.
The case for coordinated care for children
I entered medicine not just to treat illness, but to confront injustice. I wanted to be a force for good, battling death, yes, but also misinformation, institutional neglect, and the quiet superstition that children with developmental disabilities were somehow less worthy of coordinated care. That conviction led me to align my career with the legacy of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, whose advocacy gave rise to the Special Olympics and helped shape the Rehabilitation Act of 1963.
The unseen labor of EMS professionals
The service entrance doors slid to the right and, as Molly Humphreys and I exited the Berkeley Medical Center, we stepped into an unseasonably warm evening. “It’s the golden hour,” Molly said as we surveyed our surroundings and removed our masks, exposing flat faces with creased noses. Behind us stood a cold, somber hospital and we were engulfed in an empty parking lot, one flooded with radiant sunlight.
Portraits of strength: Molly Humphreys and the unseen women of health care
Since spring 2020, Molly Humphreys, a native of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has photographed workers in and around the Berkeley Medical Center (BMC) and, in the process, has created a rich mosaic of the complex realities of health care in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
A powerful story of addiction, strength, and redemption
Tough and tender at the same time, Linda is a woman with a broad smile, the kind who likes to “fish all weekend at the lake, a place where I don’t think about anything. Or, anyone.” I often smelled cigarette smoke on her, and she has the raspy voice that comes from a lifetime of stepping outside on the porch to light up. She embodies the physical strength that comes from doing a job of legitimate labor and carries her taut and tanned frame with confidence.
When a doctor becomes the narrator of a patient's final chapter
“I will catch you on the flip side,” I said these words as I planted a kiss on Laura’s clammy forehead. I instinctively knew this would be the last time I spoke with her. I walked around the foot of her hospital bed to Sherry and told her not to get up as I bent over and gave her a big hug, the kind where I buried my face in her sweater. I smelled her laundry detergent, and she cried and shook in my arms.
What my first Match Day as a program director taught me about hope
Today was my first Match Day as a program director and, while most of my emotions are unprocessed, I already have many thoughts. I can’t forget the concurrent drop in my stomach, pause in my cardiac systole, and the involuntary intake of breath which occurred when the email arrived—2 minutes early!—from the NRMP. I stacked an extra gasp even before I exhaled the first while I fumbled to open the email. My hands were shaking.
What my first Match Day as a program director taught me about hope
Today was my first Match Day as a program director and, while most of my emotions are unprocessed, I already have many thoughts. I can’t forget the concurrent drop in my stomach, pause in my cardiac systole, and the involuntary intake of breath which occurred when the email arrived—2 minutes early!—from the NRMP. I stacked an extra gasp even before I exhaled the first while I fumbled to open the email. My hands were shaking.
What The Far Side taught me about belonging in science Original
Perpetually late to the game, I was watching The Crown on my laptop Friday night, the wonderful episode set in the summer of 1969, when astronauts landed on the moon. While the world gazed into the heavens, series creator Peter Morgan looked around here on Earth and asked, What does it all mean? Contrasted against this crowning scientific achievement was the Duke of Edinburgh’s personal crisis of faith.
Why creativity in medicine can inspire the next generation of doctors
It was like being struck by lightning during the chorus, the recognition that Paul Simon was singing directly to me. “Medicine is magical, and magical is art,” he sang, and I turned up the radio, convinced that I was supposed to hear these lyrics—a tender moment in which I was vulnerable to possibility. The hair on my neck stood up and warmth washed over me, the telltale signs that this insight was true and real.
A Therapist’s Journey in Compassion and Recovery Support
Recovery from addiction is possible. For help, please call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP) or visit findtreatment.gov. Alesia Brand is a therapist at the WVU Crisis Support and Recovery Center, located in downtown Martinsburg, West Virginia. She works 10 hour shifts, where she spends most of her time facilitating group therapy and educating her patients on the effects of substance use disorder.
Finding solace in stories: How narrative medicine transformed an Appalachian doctor’s practice
In the 1990s when I started medical school, nobody warned me how my job was going to hurt me emotionally. Maybe it’s better they didn’t, as I might have been scared away. I must admit, there were a few omens I foolishly ignored early on. Still, I could not have dreamed that one day, like a human rain barrel, I would become a repository for an Appalachian avalanche of pain and suffering.
How Narrative Medicine Transformed an Appalachian Doctor's Practice
In the 1990s when I started medical school, nobody warned me how my job was going to hurt me emotionally. Maybe it’s better they didn’t, as I might have been scared away. I must admit, there were a few omens I foolishly ignored early on. Still, I could not have dreamed that one day, like a human rain barrel, I would become a repository for an Appalachian avalanche of pain and suffering.
45 years later - Peoples Temple and the Peninsula
His son was dead — and Sam Houston wanted to know why. Houston, a photographer at the Associated Press office in San Francisco, was suspicious about the death of his 32-year-old son Bob, whose body was found Oct. 5, 1976, along the Southern Pacific tracks next to the Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco.
Ravenlok Review - RPGamer
I’m Late! I’m Late! For A Very Important Date! A game’s visuals aren’t the end-all-be-all but they can inform one’s first impression. Such is the case the eyecatching voxel style of Cococucumber’s Ravenlok. Considering the game revolves around a girl’s journey to save a whimsical Alice in Wonderland-esque world, the style helps set up the mood expected from this kind of story. It’s very clear that the game is a labor of love with a lot of care put into it.
Souls of Chronos Deep Look
Souls of Chronos is an isometric action RPG; the first game from Shanghai-based developer FUTU Studio. Despite the dissonance between the artwork and in-game visuals providing a strong sense of skepticism, it was still one that grabbed my attention enough to see if it was worth experiencing. It does have a few interesting ideas under the hood, but the end result ends up being pretty lacking across the board.
Death end re;Quest Switch Review
Trapped in a Questionable Port Prior to booting up Death end re;Quest, I never had any first-hand experience with Idea Factory or Compile Heart’s games. However, I knew vaguely that this was one of their more interesting titles. After playing through the newly released Switch port, I can definitely say it was an interesting experience. On one hand, the game’s narrative and characters are engaging enough.
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