Where Science Ends and Wonder Begins in Sunset, San Antonio

For the physicians in Dr. Scott Kolbaba's book who pray before performing surgery, the act of prayer is not a rejection of their surgical training but a completion of it. They have mastered the technical skills, reviewed the imaging, planned the approach — and then they pause to acknowledge that the outcome depends on factors beyond their control. This combination of preparation and humility characterizes the finest surgical practice, and Kolbaba documents it with reverence. For surgeons in Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso, these accounts validate a practice that many share but few discuss, demonstrating that pre-surgical prayer is not superstition but an expression of the same honest reckoning with uncertainty that defines all good medicine.

Dr. Scott Kolbaba

About the Author

Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD is an internist at Northwestern Medicine in Wheaton, Illinois. He interviewed more than 200 physicians about their most extraordinary experiences.

Book cover

Physicians' Untold Stories

by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD4.5 stars (1018 reviews)

Miraculous experiences doctors are hesitant to share with their patients, or ANYONE!

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A Marine Corps veteran, Mayo Clinic-trained internist, and Chicago Magazine Top Doctor — Dr. Kolbaba brings decades of credibility to these extraordinary accounts.

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Medical Fact

The word "hospital" derives from the Latin "hospes," meaning host or guest — early hospitals were places of hospitality.

Physician Burnout & Wellness Near Sunset, San Antonio

Physicians practicing in Sunset, San Antonio, ValparaíSo work at the intersection of modern medicine and experiences that resist explanation. In conversations that rarely leave the break room or the on-call suite, doctors in and around Sunset, San Antonio have reported encounters with phenomena that their training never prepared them for — from patients who describe verifiable details about events that occurred while they were clinically dead, to deathbed visions shared simultaneously by multiple family members, to recoveries that defy every prognostic model available.

The medical community in Sunset, San Antonio includes physicians across every stage of their careers — residents navigating the exhaustion of training, mid-career practitioners balancing clinical demands with family life, and veteran physicians carrying decades of experiences that challenge the boundaries of conventional medicine. Burnout touches all of them differently, but a common thread runs through: the desire to remember why they chose medicine in the first place, and the rare but profound moments that remind them.

Physician Burnout by Specialty

Percentage reporting at least one symptom (Medscape, 2024)

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Medical Fact

The average person walks about 100,000 miles in a lifetime — roughly four trips around the Earth.

Ghost Stories and the Supernatural Near Sunset, San Antonio, ValparaíSo

Scandinavian immigrant communities near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso brought a concept of the 'fylgja'—a spirit double that accompanies each person through life. Midwest nurses of Norwegian and Swedish descent occasionally report seeing a patient's fylgja standing beside the bed, visible only in peripheral vision. When the fylgja departs before the patient does, the nurses know what's coming—and they're rarely wrong.

The Chicago Fire of 1871 didn't just destroy buildings—it destroyed the medical infrastructure of the entire region, and hospitals near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso that were built in its aftermath carry a fire anxiety that borders on the supernatural. Smoke alarms trigger without cause, fire doors close on their own, and the smell of smoke permeates rooms where no fire exists. The Great Fire's ghosts are still trying to escape.

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Medical Fact

A premature baby born at 24 weeks has a survival rate of about 60-70% with modern neonatal care.

Near-Death Experiences Reported by Physicians Near Sunset, San Antonio

Agricultural near-death experiences near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso—farmers trapped under tractors, caught in grain bins, gored by bulls—produce NDE accounts with a distinctly Midwestern character. The landscape of the NDE mirrors the landscape of the farm: vast fields, open sky, a horizon that goes on forever. Whether this reflects cultural conditioning or some deeper correspondence between the earth and the afterlife remains an open research question.

The Midwest's nursing homes near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso are quiet repositories of NDE accounts from elderly patients who experienced cardiac arrests decades ago. These aged experiencers offer longitudinal data that no prospective study can match: the lasting effects of an NDE over thirty, forty, or fifty years. Their accounts, recorded by attentive nursing staff, are a resource that researchers are only beginning to mine.

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Did You Know?

The most-read chapter of Physicians' Untold Stories is about a woman with MS who made an inexplicable, complete recovery.

Physician Wellness, Grief & Finding Meaning Near Sunset, San Antonio

The Midwest's land-grant university hospitals near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso were built on the democratic principle that advanced medical care should be accessible to farmers' children and factory workers' families, not just the wealthy. This egalitarian ethos persists in the region's medical culture, where the quality of care you receive is not determined by your zip code but by the dedication of physicians who chose to practice where they're needed.

The Midwest's culture of understatement near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso extends to how patients describe their symptoms—'a little discomfort' meaning severe pain, 'not quite right' meaning profoundly ill. Physicians who understand this linguistic modesty learn to multiply the Midwesterner's self-report by a factor of three. Healing begins with accurate assessment, and accurate assessment in the Midwest requires fluency in understatement.

Physician Burnout by Specialty

Percentage reporting at least one symptom (Medscape, 2024)

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Did You Know?

The first successful separation of conjoined twins was performed in 1689 by Johannes Fatio in Switzerland.

Watch Dr. Kolbaba Share These Stories

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Did You Know?

The first medical school in the United States was the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1765.

San Antonio: Where History, Medicine, and the Supernatural Converge

San Antonio's supernatural reputation is dominated by the Alamo, where the 1836 battle left approximately 200 Texan defenders dead. Mexican General Andrade reportedly ordered the Alamo destroyed after the battle, but his men refused, claiming ghostly sentinels with flaming swords appeared on the walls. The story of the 'ghost children' at the railroad tracks on the south side—where cars placed in neutral are said to be pushed over the tracks by the spirits of children killed in a bus accident—is one of the most famous urban legends in America, though historians have found no record of the bus accident. The Menger Hotel, with its reported 30+ ghosts, is one of the most investigated haunted hotels in Texas. San Antonio's strong Mexican-American heritage infuses the city with Day of the Dead traditions and belief in 'La Llorona'—the weeping woman who wanders rivers and waterways searching for her drowned children.

San Antonio is one of the most important military medical cities in the United States, home to the 'Military Capital of the World' and multiple major military medical facilities. Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston houses the Army Institute of Surgical Research and the US military's only burn center, which has treated thousands of combat casualties and developed pioneering burn treatment techniques used worldwide. Fort Sam Houston also hosts the Military Health System's largest medical education campus, training combat medics and military physicians. The San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) has been at the forefront of treating soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, advancing reconstructive surgery, prosthetics, and PTSD treatment. The city's civilian healthcare system is equally significant, with the South Texas Medical Center complex being one of the largest medical complexes in the world.

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About the Book

The book's Amazon listing has maintained a rating above 4.0 stars for years, reflecting its broad and enduring appeal.

Notable Locations in San Antonio

The Alamo: The site of the legendary 1836 battle where approximately 200 Texan defenders were killed by Mexican forces is one of the most haunted locations in Texas, with visitors reporting ghostly soldiers and shadowy figures among the ruins.

Menger Hotel: Built in 1859 adjacent to the Alamo, this historic hotel is reportedly haunted by over 30 ghosts, including Sallie White, a chambermaid murdered by her husband in 1876, and Teddy Roosevelt, who recruited Rough Riders in its bar.

The Emily Morgan Hotel: Built in 1924 as a medical facility across from the Alamo, this Gothic Revival building is considered one of the most haunted hotels in America, with reports of spectral patients and phantom smells of hospital antiseptic.

Railroad Tracks Ghost Children: A stretch of railroad tracks on the south side where a school bus was allegedly struck by a train in the 1930s or 1940s is famous for the legend that ghostly children will push stalled cars across the tracks to safety.

Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC): Located at Fort Sam Houston, BAMC is one of the Department of Defense's largest medical facilities and home to the Army's premier burn treatment center, treating military casualties from every major conflict since World War I.

University Hospital - University Health System: The primary teaching hospital for UT Health San Antonio, and the only civilian Level I trauma center in South Texas, serving as the region's critical care hub.

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About the Book

Dr. Kolbaba has described the interview process as deeply emotional — many physicians became tearful sharing their stories.

How This Book Can Help You

Retirement communities near Sunset, San Antonio, Valparaíso where this book circulates report that it changes the quality of end-of-life conversations among residents. Instead of avoiding the subject of death—the dominant cultural strategy—residents begin sharing their own extraordinary experiences, comparing notes, and approaching their remaining years with a curiosity that replaces dread. The book opens doors that Midwest politeness had kept firmly closed.

Physicians' Untold Stories book cover — by Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD

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Research Finding

Patients who set daily intentions or goals during hospitalization have shorter lengths of stay and better outcomes.

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Discover the Stories Medicine Never Says Out Loud

Physicians' Untold Stories by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD4.5 stars from 1018 readers.

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Physicians' Untold Stories by Dr. Scott Kolbaba

Amazon Bestseller

The Stories Medicine Never Told You

Over 200 physicians interviewed. 26 true stories of ghost encounters, near-death experiences, and miraculous recoveries that will change the way you think about life, death, and what lies beyond.

By Dr. Scott J. Kolbaba, MD — 4.5★ from 1,018 ratings on Goodreads