Foot in Mouth Disease: Musings of an Unfiltered Physician

Foot In Mouth Disease: Musings of an Unfiltered Physician is a view of the convolutions of life through the lens of a doctor with an unconventional, and somewhat unrefined, sense of humor. Across a collection of essays, Dr. Matt Hogan uses experiences and events from his life to reflect on broader themes like motivation and regret, weaving hilarious accounts of his own personal history as a physician and native Philadelphian into the lessons he’s learned in a life of service and observation.

From the mortal dangers lurking in his childhood home, to the unreasonable expectations of being a physician in a Shonda Rhimes world, Matt gives the reader an unobstructed view of the absurdities of his life and how they molded him into the physician he is today. Nobody in his universe is off limits -- not the mother who paid off his student loans nor the wife who tolerates his OCD -- but while discussing the pitfalls of passing gas in front of a patient or reflecting on universal healthcare while atop a castle in Germany, Matt’s biggest target is himself. Permeating the prose is an underlying theme that in order to take an honest look at a difficult problem like our comically frustrating healthcare system, we must first take an honest look at ourselves.

Foot In Mouth Disease is a diary crafted into a story about one man’s dance into middle- age. It is a narrative in the vein of the author’s hero, David Sedaris, and a window into the world of medicine through the eyes of an unprocessed skeptic. Mostly, however, it is a confession - an exploitation of the mutually hysterical and poignant events in the life of a dedicated physician that prove we are all human, and none of us will make it out alive.

Matthew Hogan was born in Philadelphia and raised in an Irish family skilled in the art of brash pessimism. In the fall of 1992, Matt’s eldest brother was involved in a head-on collision that took the life of the woman whose lane he veered into, a wife and mother of two. It was too much, even for brash pessimists, and the Hogan family fell apart. Matt gave up his pursuit of a career in writing and opted for a career in medicine after spending countless hours in the hospital where his brother recovered. He completed his internal medicine residency and moved on to a career in hospital medicine where he is now the Medical Director and Vice Chief of Staff at Emory Decatur Hospital. One fateful encounter with an author dying from cancer reignited his passion for writing, and after a few failed starts, including a science fiction novel called Mr. November that nobody read, he finally found his voice when the absurdities of the public’s response to COVID forced him to remember that brash pessimism can be both entertaining and enlightening.