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Jan 227 min read

Why is going to the doctor like buying a car?

Going through the economic and emotional acrobatics of buying a car is not the highlight of my world. However, it is one of those...

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More Lessons from the Piano in the Key of Life

Dr. Ed

Nov 14, 20233 min read

More Lessons from the Piano in the Key of Life

It really does not take much to make a difference in someone’s day, in someone’s life. Let me explain. About twenty years ago an...

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Dr. Ed

Oct 25, 20234 min read

The Unexpected Lessons

I had the great privilege to address an audience of a thousand residents from my community who have been participating in a decade-long...

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Dr. Ed

Aug 5, 20234 min read

A Horse of Course and a Life Lesson

Medicine is complex. The body of medical information doubles approximately every 72 days. Surgical procedures now routinely performed in...

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Imagine Cancer Testing with a Drop of Blood

Dr. Ed

Jul 5, 20235 min read

Imagine Cancer Testing with a Drop of Blood

The phone call was completely unexpected. A colleague with whom I had trained was in town for the evaluation of a potentially serious...

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Democratization of Medicine: Does your doctor know best? Maybe not

Dr. Ed

Jun 18, 20235 min read

Democratization of Medicine: Does your doctor know best? Maybe not

Not too many decades ago, in the history of medicine, healthcare providers were culled from the ranks of the clergy. These practitioners,...

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Dr. Ed

Apr 4, 20235 min read

The Group that Defied the Odds

Almost 100 years ago, Harvard University enrolled several hundred individuals in a long-term study of why some people live longer than...

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Hello, Spring. Where Are You? A Short Essay on COVID and Clutter

Dr. Ed

Mar 15, 20234 min read

Hello, Spring. Where Are You? A Short Essay on COVID and Clutter

Phil was right. The groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, and he was right. For the last several months, we here in the upper...

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Dr. Ed

Feb 27, 20235 min read

Why Your Doctor Doesn’t Listen to You

Scenario 1: You’re in the exam room, sitting in an open-backed gown. You and your doctor have discussed your high blood pressure (stay on...

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When the Time Comes: What We Can Learn from President Jimmy Carter's Hospice Decision

Dr. Ed

Feb 20, 20236 min read

When the Time Comes: What We Can Learn from President Jimmy Carter's Hospice Decision

The recent statement from the family of President Jimmy Carter opens the door for a crucial conversation about end-of-life decisions for us.

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Message in a Bottle: Life Lessons from Rock Stars

Dr. Ed

Feb 13, 20234 min read

Message in a Bottle: Life Lessons from Rock Stars

Many of us can recall individuals who were destined for the Big Stage, the Big Room. These shining stars seemingly had that unique...

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Welcome to the Dark Side of Your Medical Records

Dr. Ed

Feb 2, 20236 min read

Welcome to the Dark Side of Your Medical Records

Once upon a time—and you know when I start with those four words, I’m taking you down a retrospective path—medicine reflected a sacred...

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Why Goldfish Have a Longer Attention Span than We Do

Dr. Ed

Jan 19, 20233 min read

Why Goldfish Have a Longer Attention Span than We Do

We live in a world of constant, unpredictable, intermittent inattention. We are bludgeoned and bombarded with a tsunami of digital...

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Dr. Ed

Jan 11, 20234 min read

Now, where did I put my glasses?

A common medical term is sequela. You pronounce it like this: seh-QWEL-uh. And it means the after-effects of a disease. In other words, a...

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The Lesson from Damar Hamlin. Are You Prepared for the Worst?

Dr. Ed

Jan 6, 20233 min read

The Lesson from Damar Hamlin. Are You Prepared for the Worst?

Damar Hamlin, a remarkable and beloved football player for the Buffalo Bills, suffered a cardiac arrest following what would appear to be...

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Another of Life’s Wonderful Lessons Because It Is a Wonderful Life

Dr. Ed

Dec 3, 20222 min read

Another of Life’s Wonderful Lessons Because It Is a Wonderful Life

Photo from Unsplash Prior to the onset of the subzero temperatures here in the upper Midwest, there was a brief reprieve for many...

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The Asteroid That Destroyed Healthcare as We Knew It

Dr. Ed

Nov 29, 20224 min read

The Asteroid That Destroyed Healthcare as We Knew It

We humans survived on the grassy plains of East Africa millions of years ago by the power of community. The power of connectedness....

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What Empowered Patients Can Learn from the Car Repair Guy

Dr. Ed

Nov 14, 20223 min read

What Empowered Patients Can Learn from the Car Repair Guy

When it comes to maintenance of our cars, we here in the Midwest take the annual winter checkup seriously. If the car does not start,...

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Where’s the Canary in the Healthcare Coal Mine?

Dr. Ed

Oct 31, 20224 min read

Where’s the Canary in the Healthcare Coal Mine?

Coal mining is a profoundly dangerous profession. Before there were federally mandated safety measures, these early pioneers were aware...

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Dr. Ed

Jul 5, 20225 min read

What Dorothy Said to Toto

In the 1939 iconic musical fantasy, Wizard of Oz, Dorothy cradles her little dog Toto when a tornado transports them from her home state...

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