- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
"The magic of the electronic village is transforming health information. The mouse and keyboard have extended the stethoscope to the 500 million people now online." - Dr. Edward Creagan
The power of the medium inspires Dr. Edward Creagan as he searches for ways to share Mayo Clinic's vast resources with the general public.
Dr. Creagan, a Newark, N.J., native, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice medicine and palliative care. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1973 and in 1999 was president of the staff of Mayo Clinic. Dr. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, was honored in 1995 with the John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine Award and in 1992 with the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, Mayo's highest recognition. He has been recognized with the American Cancer Society Professorship of Clinical Oncology.
He describes his areas of special interest as "wellness as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-financial model" and fitness, mind-body connection, aging and burnout.
Dr. Creagan has been an associate medical editor with Mayo Clinic's Web sites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the Web site) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
Latest entries
- Support groups help families of alcoholics
Feb. 5, 2010
- Hitting the wall can be a wake-up call
Jan. 29, 2010
- Feel under siege? Don't forget you have control
Jan. 23, 2010
- Got stress? Get a hobby
Jan. 16, 2010
- Learning from the past helps us move forward
Jan. 9, 2010
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Stress blog
-
Nov. 1, 2008
Shifting the odds in your favor
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
"It all depends on your attitude." This wise advice was shared with me by a fascinating gentleman who was coming to Rochester for a routine cancer evaluation. Fortunately, his evaluations were encouraging and the cancer had not recurred. But, let me share with you the rest of the story.
It is my practice to inquire about the occupation of patients. How can we interact with the patient if we do not know their social background and the kind of work that they do? The gentleman described himself as a "corrections professional." I assumed that this was some type of law enforcement position, but his responsibilities provided a keen insight into the role of stress. Please read on.
He was an official in a "super max" facility in a distant state which focused on some of the more difficult and challenging inmates in that state's correctional environment. Our gentleman shared with me the constant sense of danger, the palpable feeling that an eruption could take place at anytime, and the sense of profound vulnerability since he was not armed.
He explained that he thought "almost everyone" who worked in that environment had stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, eating disorders as well as an overarching sense of anxiety. My question to him was, "How do you do this everyday?"
Here is what he told me. He emphasized the importance of an attitude of being professional, proactive, and anticipating danger but also to maintain a fundamental level of fitness. In other words, he did everything he possibly could to shift the odds in his favor to avoid a confrontation. He was psychologically and physically prepared to deal with the unexpected.
So, this is important for each of us. What can we do to be proactive, to be preemptive, and care for ourselves to shift the odds in our favor?
5 comments posted
January 2, 2010 8:22 p.m.
The boy scout motto is "Be Prepared." With that attitude, it is so much easier to accept any bump along the way and stress becomes that much more manageable. Barbara A. "cry Depression, Celebrate Recovery," appearing soon in bookstores.
- Barbara A
November 10, 2008 1:15 p.m.
Hi Michelle: Plz share with us how you deal wiht the stress of your profession ? Thank you..
- Dr. Ed
November 9, 2008 10:31 p.m.
Sometimes, people really can't decide what to do first and how to do it. I'm talking about priorities in life - may it be short term or long term. And i believe that that produces a lot of stress. Over the past months, I am having migraines, sleeping problems and my temper has been frustrating. I actually used the internet as a tool for finding something that could lessen, if not completely remove, my stress. There's this website impactfulactions.com that i came across a few days ago. I don't know if its psychological or what but i think i'm doing better each day.
- dave
November 3, 2008 11:02 a.m.
Attitude is very important. Closely related are the internal things you tell yourself: 'I can do this' vs. 'I can't' and so forth. Your patient made a very important point: focus on what you CAN do and take control of that instead of 'oh poor me.' It helps to have people around you who build you up and remind you of good/positive things. A friend once told me 'you ALWAYS have choices.' Sometimes hard to believe! But it is true. All this is where depression ambushes me by making it so difficult to grasp these ideas. Any ideas on how to keep a ray of light going into that dark place? The things we're talking about here require a bit of effort and depression is paralyzing. Thanks for your insights.
- Susan
November 3, 2008 6:18 a.m.
Dr. Creagan, I believe that your patient hit the nail on the head. I also work in the corrections industry, and I believe whole heartedly that ones attitude is half the battle of good health. Thanks so much for your post!
- Michelle
5 comments posted