October 09, 2026
3 min read
Key takeaways:
- Media tools such as television or podcasts can help physicians communicate important messages about health and science.
- Carving out your day in advance can help to balance a career in medicine and journalism.
NEW YORK — Now more than ever, perspectives from people working in healthcare are needed outside of the clinic, according to a speaker at the 2026 Women in Nephrology Leadership Conference.
“We need healthcare voices,” Tara Narula, MD, professor of cardiology at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, said during a fireside chat. “We need people who have the training and the background to communicate the science appropriately.”
Narula is also chief medical correspondent for ABC News and a physician author. She touts the mediums of television and other media platforms for their potential to educate people in an engaging manner.
“I love television because it’s visual,” Narula told Healio. “All forms of media are important, but to me personally, what always would draw me in as a viewer was watching someone tell an emotional story or somebody speaking passionately about a topic. It’s different from print.”
Journey without certainty
Narula has been in the field of medical journalism for nearly 15 years, but the road to appearing on television was not direct, she said, adding that when she was in medical school, opportunities in the field simply did not exist.
“I said to my friends early on that I wanted to be like Sanjay Gupta who, 26 years ago, was the only person who did medical journalism at the time,” Narula said during the fireside chat. “And of course, my medical school friends thought I was crazy.”
Eventually, when in the last year of her fellowship in cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Narula took the opportunity to email all the major news outlets in the area for a chance to intern and learn about the inner workings of television news.
After receiving no response from most outlets, Narula heard from NBC Nightly News and eventually spent a year as an intern at NBC with the medical news unit.
“I have always believed from early on that there’s real value to medical journalism: It’s public health, it’s education, it’s health literacy,” Narula said. “Navigating a path in the world of medical media was a lot of knocking on doors and pushing to get to where I am today.”
Physicians in journalism
For physicians using any media platform, ensuring information is easy to understand and accessible is important for empowering people, Narula said.
“It was always important for me to do in journalism what we do every single day in our office,” Narula said during the fireside chat. “There’s no difference in how I try to communicate on television with how I try to communicate with my patients.”
Being nervous the first time appearing on camera is a common feeling, according to Narula.
“Everybody’s nervous when they’re on camera the first time,” she told Healio. “I always tell people to just think as if you were in your living room or with your friend and sort of forget that the cameras are there. That kind of helps you relax.”
The most challenging aspect of delivering health information to a public audience is sticking to the facts and remaining unbiased, Narula said.
“A lot of times we have our own opinions about what we think is right or wrong,” she said during the fireside chat. “It’s better to just give the facts and let people make their own decision.”
As for balancing two full-time careers with family life, “you’re not going to be 100% at everything,” Narula said. However, she said, carving out each part of her day can be helpful for separating work from home life.
“I don’t find out what I’m talking about [on television] until the day before,” Narula said. “I … end my office day in terms of seeing patients at 4 o’clock instead of 5 o’clock because I want an hour in my office to do my research so that I don’t have to go home and take time away from my kids at dinner.”
Overall, Narula told Healio that all physicians should think about using media platforms to share health information.
“Physicians need to be the ones communicating the understanding and messaging behind science, especially at this point in time in this country,” she said. “Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s research or public health messaging, using media just gets you out there.”
For more information:
Tara Narula, MD, can be reached at nephrology@healio.com.
Sources/Disclosures
Source:
Narula T. A fireside chat with Dr. Tara Narula. Presented at: Women in Nephrology Leadership Conference; Sept. 25-26, 2026; New York.
Disclosures:
Narula reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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