Where Science Ends and Wonder Begins in Frontier, Lisbon

The equipment anomalies described in Physicians' Untold Stories are among the book's most intriguing accounts, precisely because they involve objective, mechanical events rather than subjective perception. Monitors alarming with no patient connected. Ventilators cycling on their own in rooms where patients have just died. Call bells ringing from empty beds. Physicians and nurses in Frontier, Lisbon and across the country have reported these events, and while each individual incident might be attributed to electrical malfunction, the pattern — their consistent timing with death — suggests something more purposeful. Dr. Kolbaba presents these accounts without forcing an interpretation, allowing readers to weigh the evidence themselves. For the technically minded residents of Frontier, Lisbon, these stories provide a fascinatingly tangible entry point into the book's larger questions.

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 tradition of covering mirrors after a death persists in many cultures — the original belief was that mirrors could trap the departing soul.

Physician Burnout & Wellness Near Frontier, Lisbon

Physicians practicing in Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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 Frontier, Lisbon 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 Frontier, Lisbon 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

Some healthcare workers describe hearing a patient's distinctive cough or voice in the hallway weeks after their death.

Ghost Stories and the Supernatural Near Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region

Scandinavian immigrant communities near Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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 Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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

Healthcare professionals in neonatal units sometimes report sensing a calming presence in the room when a premature infant passes away.

Near-Death Experiences Reported by Physicians Near Frontier, Lisbon

Agricultural near-death experiences near Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region—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 Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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 concept of "therapeutic presence" — a physician's calming influence on patients — has been measured in clinical studies.

Physician Wellness, Grief & Finding Meaning Near Frontier, Lisbon

The Midwest's land-grant university hospitals near Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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 Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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?

Dr. Kolbaba's interviews revealed that physicians are more spiritual than the general public assumes — many pray before difficult procedures.

Watch Dr. Kolbaba Share These Stories

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Did You Know?

The concept of "evidence-based medicine" was only formally named in 1991 — meaning most of medical history operated without it.

Lisbon: Where History, Medicine, and the Supernatural Converge

Lisbon's supernatural traditions are deeply shaped by the 1755 earthquake—one of the deadliest in European history—which occurred on All Saints' Day while churches were filled and candles were lit, triggering a catastrophic fire and tsunami. The disaster profoundly influenced European philosophy (inspiring Voltaire's Candide) and created layers of ghost stories in a city rebuilt atop its dead. Portuguese folklore includes the moura encantada (enchanted Moorish woman), spirits connected to pre-Christian traditions, and the belief in bruxas (witches). The Fado music tradition, born in Lisbon's working-class neighborhoods, expresses saudade—a deep, melancholic longing for what is lost—including the dead. The Alfama district, Lisbon's oldest neighborhood, survived the earthquake and is rich with ghost stories. Portuguese maritime tradition includes numerous tales of phantom ships and cursed voyages.

Lisbon's medical history is marked by the catastrophic earthquake of 1755, which not only destroyed much of the city—including the Hospital Real de Todos os Santos (founded 1492)—but also catalyzed advances in emergency medicine and public health. The Portuguese were pioneers in tropical medicine due to their colonial empire, establishing the Lisbon School of Tropical Medicine in 1902. Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist working in Lisbon, won the Nobel Prize in 1949 for developing the prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy)—an achievement now regarded with significant ethical controversy. Portugal's progressive drug decriminalization policy, implemented in 2001 and administered through health-centered approaches from Lisbon, has been internationally recognized as a groundbreaking public health experiment.

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About the Book

Dr. Kolbaba conducted many interviews in person, believing face-to-face conversation was essential for capturing the physicians' full emotional impact.

Notable Locations in Lisbon

São Jorge Castle: This Moorish castle overlooking Lisbon, dating to the 11th century, is said to be haunted by the ghosts of soldiers from its many sieges and conquests, with visitors reporting armored apparitions and the sounds of battle on the ramparts at night.

Carmo Convent Ruins: Destroyed in the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 30,000-50,000 people, the roofless Gothic ruins of the Carmo Convent are considered a haunted memorial to one of history's deadliest natural disasters.

Sintra's Quinta da Regaleira: This early 20th-century estate near Lisbon, with its initiation wells, grottoes, and Masonic symbolism, is surrounded by supernatural legends and is said to be connected to occult rituals performed by its original owner.

Hospital de São José: Founded as the Hospital Real de Todos os Santos (All Saints Royal Hospital) in 1492, this is one of the oldest hospitals in Portugal; after the 1755 earthquake destroyed the original building, it was relocated and renamed, continuing to serve Lisbon for over 530 years.

Hospital de Santa Maria: Opened in 1953, Santa Maria is the largest hospital in Portugal and the main teaching hospital of the University of Lisbon Medical School, serving as the country's primary referral center.

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About the Book

Dr. Kolbaba donates a portion of book proceeds to charitable causes, including the Romanian orphanage supported by REMM.

How This Book Can Help You

Retirement communities near Frontier, Lisbon, Lisbon Region 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

Transcendental meditation has been shown to reduce blood pressure by 5 mmHg systolic and 3 mmHg diastolic in hypertensive patients.

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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

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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