Sayed Tabatabai, MD

@therealdoctort.bsky.social

6623 Followers 667 Following

Physician. Writer. Cherish your stories. Listen to each other’s. My debut book “These Vital Signs” is out now from HarperCollins. #MedSky.

Screenshot of a tweet on Twitter by “@hedgieMarkets” “🦔AI companies are bulk-buying rare books, scanning them through high-speed machines that cut the spines off, and shredding the originals. A service called ISBNdb facilitates orders of up to a million books and keeps buyers anonymous. Pre-2022 books are premium because they're free of AI-generated text. A federal judge ruled the practice is fair use because eliminating the original means only one copy exists at a time. Anthropic hired the former head of Google Books partnerships to obtain "all the books in the world." My Take This got to me. A bookseller told 404 Media that rare books with almost no surviving copies are being fed into this pipeline. Books that survived wars, fires, and centuries of handling are being shredded so an AI can learn to write a better marketing email.”
Photo of Matt Damon as Odysseus from The Odyssey. He looks weary, in armor, looking up at something off-screen. He is bearded and his beard and hair are scraggly.
Screenshot of a quote by Akira Kurosawa: People today have forgotten they're really just a part of nature. Yet, they destroy the nature on which our lives depend. They always think they can make something better. Especially scientists. They may be smart, but most don't understand the heart of nature. They only invent things that, in the end, make people unhappy. Yet they're so proud of their inventions. What's worse, most people are, too. They view them as if they were miracles. They worship them. They don't know it, but they're losing nature. They don't see that they're going to perish. The most important things for human beings are clean air and clean water.
X post by Stephen Miller that reads “If you believe a foreign government can sail a hospital ship to the edge of US territorial waters, deliver a hundred babies to foreign moms, then promptly sail back to a foreign port, and that every one of those babies is American for life, you don't believe in nationhood at all.”
Photo of me wearing a Darth Vader costume to clinic complete with helmet, long black cloak, black gloves, and lightsaber.
Image of a lone white star shining in the night sky high above a jagged mountain range wreathed in dark clouds.
Screenshot of a headline, “OpenAI suggests ChatGPT play doctor as millions of Americans face spiking insurance costs: ‘in the U.S. ChatGPT has become an important ally.”
A screenshot of a series of emails from the Apple subscription hub for a variety of streaming services including HBO Max, Peacock, and Apple TV+. The emails are all titled “your subscription price increase.”
Photo of a piece of art, a card with a painting of me giving a peace sign while smiling, with a silhouette of the San Antonio skyline in the background, and the words “Peace Out San Antonio, NCB Crew” in a graffiti style.
Screenshot of a post by Variety. Two photos of Jennifer Lawrence and Keanu Reeves are beneath a block of text that reads: Lionsgate boss says the studio can use AI to adjust a movie's tone and rating, convert live-action into animation and create kid-friendly cuts: "Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie." The studio hopes its pact with AI startup company Runway allows directors the chance to “make movies and television shows we’d otherwise never make. We can’t make it for $100 million, but we’d make it for $50 million because of AI… We’re banging around the art of the possible. Let’s try some stuff, see what sticks.”
A photograph of a sunset over rolling hills, with a cloud formation partially obscuring it creating a silhouette that looks vaguely like the dragon from the Mortal Kombat games symbol, seen in profile, neck arched, mouth open.
Tweet by Congressman Greg Murphy: “So troublesome to see so many young doctors complaining about how hard the job is. Your job is taking care of patients. It’s called dedication. It’s called devotion. If you wanted an easy life you should have chosen something else.” Reply by Tyler Olsen: “Have you listened to them explain what exactly is so hard about the job? Because it’s not patient care they’re complaining about.” Reply by theboxdoc: “He ran for Congress because medicine was too hard. I worked with him- he whined incessantly about the hospital, the system and the patients. The statement from him is ludicrous hypocrisy.”
Cartoon illustration of me as Darth Vader in a realistic but also stylized form, standing facing the camera, my cloak billowing about me, holding up a red light saber in my right hand and holding my helmet under my left arm, with Star Wars, Rise of Sayed, Coronaverse, written above it in the classic Star Wars font.
A photo of a whiteboard with one half showing treatments for various kinds of kidney diseases, and the other half with a list of movies and TV shows.
Screenshot of a quote: Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery. - Octavia Butler, “Parable of the Talents.”
Screenshot of a news article from CNN: “Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants.” By Jordan Valinsky, CNN.
Screenshot of a headline from the San Antonio Express News website dated March 20th, 2025. “Don’t do the shots” say parents of West Texas child who died of measles. “She is better off where she is now versus all the negativity and all the stuff going on.” By Annasofia Scheve, staff writer.
Screenshot of a tweet by “owl at the library” (@sketchesbyboze): Not to defend the robber barons but Andrew Carnegie, the richest man of his era, gave away 90 percent of his wealth and funded the building of 2,811 libraries, and I'm afraid the current crop of oligarchs isn't sending their best.
Screenshot of tweet from @AlecStapp “Too many people take biomedical innovation for granted.” Below this is a screenshot from an article on the Atlantic.com. Highlighted is the text: “A child born with cystic fibrosis in the 50s could expect to live until age 5. In the 70s, age 10. In the early 2000s, age 35. With Trikafta came a quantum leap. Today those who begin taking the drug in early adolescence, a recent study projected, can expect to survive to age 82.5 - an essentially normal lifespan.”
Screenshot of a quote by Benjamin Franklin from his autobiography. “In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if the child died under it: my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen.”
Photo of a sign saying “This computer is reserved for our cardiologists. Thank you!” An enterprising nephrologist had scribbled in “and Dr T” after the first sentence.
Photo of a normally bustling road that is deserted, covered in a few small patches of snow, with an overcast sky.
Screenshot from an ad for “24K Gold Toothpaste.” A dollop of gold sparkling toothpaste shaped suspiciously like Donald Trump’s hairdo on a golden toothbrush. “Anti Inflammatory, Anti Bacterial” says the text underneath.
Image of the cover of “Don’t Waste Your Wishes” by The Killers. Silhouette of a tree against a night sky with stars, and mountains in the background.
Photo of a news article headline: “Luigi Mangione Prosecutors Have a Jury Problem: ‘So much sympathy.’”
Video taken on an iPhone of an immense art exhibit of a peacock made out of fabric stretched over a wire skeleton and lit from the inside with LEDs (and also external lighting). The peacock spreads its massive tail as the color patterns swirl and change. It is brilliantly bright, and mesmerizing to watch the colors change.
Photo of me and artist Colton Valentine posing in front of a painting of Sade. I’m pointing at Colton. He’s throwing up a peace sign. Sade is black and white in a red background.
Photo of several books on a store bookshelf with THESE VITAL SIGNS among them. The color scheme is yellow and Twitter blue.
Screenshot of a tweet by “Keep Tulsa” saying “it was great seeing my friend Luigi Mangione in Tulsa on 12-4-24 between 6AM and 6PM.”
Screenshot of an article. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Won't Pay for the Complete Duration of Anesthesia for Patients' Surgical Procedures Another Example of Insurers Putting Profits Over Patients CHICAGO - In an unprecedented move, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri have unilaterally declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit,
Photograph of the interior of the “Coral Reef” restaurant at EPCOT Center in Disney World. Large aquarium in the background of a dimly lit restaurant.
Photograph of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella castle. It’s blue and gold with images from “Frozen” projected onto its walls.
Photograph of a vibrantly green lizard on a vibrantly green leaf. The lizard is small (a gecko?). It has a black and white stripe running down its back.
Screenshot of a BlueSky post of a photo of a hand holding a half-eaten popsicle. The first reply by “RM” says “They said it couldn’t be done.”
Screenshot of a text box from a magazine. A British pensioner whose bland sandwiches gained him unexpected fame in China has died. Keith Brown, a retired engineer known on Chinese social media as "Old Dry Keith", became a hit when his Chinese wife Zhang Jian began to post videos of him assembling the ham and cheese sandwiches he liked to eat. Chinese observers were grimly fascinated by his dry, boring sandwiches, and his gentle, stoic manner - and he built up a cult following. "We go from questioning the dry old man, to understanding the dry old man, to becoming the dry old man," observed one cultural commentator. "The old man is us, and his dry lunch is our dry life."
Book cover of “Redwall” by Brian Jacques. A mouse wearing a green tunic and yellow cape holds up a sword and shield in a triumphant pose with a burst of fiery yellow behind him like the setting sun. Above him in a medieval font, the words “Brian Jacques.” Below him in the same font, “Redwall.”
Quote by James Baldwin: Love has never been a popular movement. And no one's ever wanted, really, to be free. The world is held together, really it is held together, by the love and the passion of a very few people. Otherwise, of course, you can despair. Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you've got to remember is what you're looking at is also you. Everyone you're looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be. James Baldwin
Photo of a sign saying “Aggressive and disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Examples of aggressive/disruptive behavior include (but are not limited to): - verbal or physical harassment -abusive or foul language - failure to respond to staff instructions - physical assault
Screenshot of a news headline: “Trump’s impending return to White House brings criminal cases to a halt.” By Andrew Goudsward and Luc Cohen.
A photograph of an annular solar eclipse, the sky is darkened and the sun has the dark circle of the moon in front of it, surrounded by a ring of fire
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget. Quote from Arundhati Roy’s “The Cost of Living”
Photo of a man in a t shirt that says “come to the dark side we have cookies” and a picture of Darth Vader. He is holding a box with cookies.
Photo of Andrew Garfield holding a copy of THESE VITAL SIGNS and smiling for the camera.
Cover image from the video game “We Happy Few” with a stylized silhouette of a face slowly cracking apart and the words “WE HAPPY FEW.”
Photograph of blue skies from high altitude, showing the curvature of the earth and the sun over the horizon.
Image of George Clooney looking seductively into the camera while sitting beside a pool. Caption: “Welcome to the cool team.”
Poster for an anime movie titled “I want to eat your pancreas” with a boy and a girl standing back to back with a background of flower blossoms. The tagline is “friendship blossoms when opposites attract.”