How Two ER Doctors Created the Top Clinical Tool for Physicians: The Origins of MDCalc with Dr. Joe Habboushe

How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker

This episode is sponsored by Abridge - the leading AI platform that drafts structured, clinically useful notes at the point of conversation.

MDCalc turns 20 this year. What began as a scrappy side project in med school grew - without outside funding - into one of the most-used, most-trusted clinical references in the world. In this episode of How I Doctor, host Dr. Graham Walker sits down with his co-founder Dr. Joe Habboushe - an emergency physician, math nerd in the best sense, and relentless advocate for evidence-based care - to unpack how MDCalc was built, why clinicians trusted it early, and what comes next in the age of AI.

They revisit the “slow and thoughtful, not move-fast-and-break-things” playbook that earned physician trust, the scrappy years when both were working full-time in the ED while growing the site score-by-score, and how partnering with tool creators and societies raised the bar for quality. From COVID’s chaotic first year to today’s AI hype cycle, Joe explains why guardrails matter, why calculators should augment (not replace) clinical judgment, and how MDCalc plans to lead responsibly.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How two ER docs grew MDCalc organically into a global, trusted clinical tool
• The product philosophy behind MDCalc: safe, fast, trusted—and why “don’t break things” works in medicine
• Why decision tools must partner with clinical judgment and not compete with “gestalt vs. calculator” false choices
• How MDCalc’s contributor model and society partnerships improved evidence quality and bedside usability
• MDCalc + AI: where responsible, physician-led guardrails can make tools powerful and safe
• Practical advice for physician-founders: finding a complementary co-founder, building step-by-step, and choosing work that actually fits you

About Dr. Joe Habboushe

Emergency physician, co-founder of MDCalc, and long-time champion of evidence-based medicine. Joe helped design MDCalc’s contributor ecosystem, content standards, and “safe-fast-trusted” ethos that clinicians rely on at the bedside.

If you’re a clinician who uses MDCalc, this conversation is a rare behind-the-scenes on how it was built for you—and how it will stay clinician-first as AI enters the workflow.

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This Episode is Sponsored by Abridge

Abridge is the leading AI platform that drafts structured, clinically useful notes at the point of conversation

Abridge Sponsor