
Where Science Ends and Wonder Begins in Clover, New York City
Dr. Kolbaba's book offers an unconventional antidote to physician burnout: stories that remind physicians why they chose medicine. In an era when administrative burdens, electronic health records, and productivity metrics have divorced many physicians from the meaningful aspects of their work, the extraordinary stories in Physicians' Untold Stories reconnect physicians to the wonder, mystery, and profound human significance of their calling.

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.

Physicians' Untold Stories
by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD • 4.5 stars (1018 reviews)
Miraculous experiences doctors are hesitant to share with their patients, or ANYONE!
Order on Amazon →A Marine Corps veteran, Mayo Clinic-trained internist, and Chicago Magazine Top Doctor — Dr. Kolbaba brings decades of credibility to these extraordinary accounts.
Medical Fact
Volunteering has been associated with a 22% reduction in mortality risk, according to a study of over 64,000 participants.
Physician Burnout & Wellness Near Clover, New York City
Physicians practicing in Clover, New York City, New York 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 Clover, New York City 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 Clover, New York City 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)
Medical Fact
Group therapy for physician burnout has been shown to reduce emotional exhaustion scores by 25% within 6 months.
Physician Wellness, Grief & Finding Meaning Near Clover, New York City
The recovery rooms of Northeast hospitals near Clover, New York City, New York are quiet theaters where small miracles occur daily. A stroke patient speaks her first word in weeks. A child takes a step after months in a wheelchair. A veteran, tormented by nightmares, sleeps peacefully for the first time in years. These moments rarely make headlines, but they are the substance of medicine's real purpose.
The mentorship traditions at Northeast medical schools near Clover, New York City, New York create chains of healing that stretch across generations. An attending physician who learned compassion from her mentor in 1980 teaches it to a resident in 2020, who will carry it to patients in 2060. Medicine's greatest discoveries may be pharmacological, but its greatest gift is the human-to-human transmission of the art of caring.
Medical Fact
Regular meditation practice reduces physician error rates by 11% according to a study published in Academic Medicine.
Faith, Medicine & the Unexplained in Clover, New York City, New York
The African Methodist Episcopal churches near Clover, New York City, New York have served as healthcare access points for Black communities since Reconstruction. When physicians earn the trust of AME congregations, they gain access to patients who have every historical reason to distrust medical institutions. The church becomes the bridge between a community's faith and its physical health.
The Northeast's Buddhist communities near Clover, New York City, New York approach illness and death with a equanimity that can unsettle physicians accustomed to the fight-at-all-costs ethos of American medicine. Buddhist patients who decline aggressive treatment aren't giving up—they're making a spiritually informed choice about how to spend their remaining time. This challenges Northeast medicine's reflexive escalation and expands the definition of good care.
Did You Know?
Dr. Kolbaba discovered that anesthesiologists had unique perspectives on consciousness — their work involves deliberately extinguishing and restoring it.
Ghost Stories and the Supernatural Near Clover, New York City, New York
Boston's medical district, one of the oldest in the nation, has accumulated centuries of ghostly lore that physicians near Clover, New York City, New York inherit whether they want to or not. The ether dome at Massachusetts General, where anesthesia was first publicly demonstrated in 1846, is said to echo with the moans of patients who went under and never fully came back—at least not in the conventional sense.
Civil War hospitals that served the Union cause left their mark across the Northeast, and facilities near Clover, New York City, New York occasionally unearth reminders. Construction projects have turned up surgical instruments, bone fragments, and—according to workers—the unmistakable copper smell of old blood. The subsequent ghostly activity tends to be auditory: the rhythmic sawing of a bone saw, the splash of a limb dropping into a bucket.
Types of Phenomena in the Book
Distribution across 26 physician accounts
Did You Know?
Approximately 80% of physician burnout is attributed to systemic factors — electronic health records, administrative burden, and time pressure.
New York City: Where History, Medicine, and the Supernatural Converge
New York City's supernatural history is as layered as its streets. The island of Manhattan was considered sacred by the Lenape people, who believed certain areas held powerful spirits. In the 19th century, the city became a hotbed of the Spiritualist movement, with famous mediums like the Fox Sisters performing séances in parlors across the city. The notorious Five Points neighborhood—once the most dangerous slum in America—is said to be haunted by victims of its violent past. Washington Square Park was built atop a potter's field containing an estimated 20,000 bodies, and visitors have reported ghostly encounters there for decades. Hart Island, the city's public burial ground since 1869, holds over one million unclaimed dead and is widely considered one of the most haunted places in the United States. The New York Public Library's main branch is reportedly haunted by the ghosts of its benefactors.
New York City has been at the forefront of American medicine since the colonial era. Bellevue Hospital, established in 1736, introduced the nation's first ambulance service in 1869 and its first psychiatric pavilion. The city was home to the first successful open-heart surgery using a heart-lung machine, performed by Dr. C. Walton Lillehei's colleague Dr. John Gibbon's techniques refined at NYC institutions. During the 1832 and 1849 cholera epidemics, New York's medical community developed quarantine practices that shaped modern public health. The city also played a pivotal role in combating the 1918 influenza pandemic and later became a global center for HIV/AIDS research in the 1980s. Today, NYC's medical district houses more than 70 hospitals and some of the world's most advanced research facilities.
Did You Know?
The human liver performs over 500 distinct functions — more than any other organ in the body.
Watch Dr. Kolbaba Share These Stories
About the Book
The book has been translated into multiple languages and is available worldwide on Amazon.
Notable Locations in New York City
Bellevue Hospital: America's oldest public hospital (est. 1736) is said to be haunted by the spirits of patients from its psychiatric ward and morgue, with staff reporting apparitions in the tunnels connecting buildings.
Merchant's House Museum: This 1832 Federal-style rowhouse in the East Village is considered Manhattan's most haunted building, with visitors and staff frequently reporting the ghost of Gertrude Tredwell, who died there in 1933.
Kings County Hospital: Brooklyn's historic hospital, opened in 1831, has long been reported as haunted by nurses and patients who describe shadowy figures and unexplained sounds in its oldest wards.
The Dakota Building: This iconic 1884 apartment building on Central Park West—where John Lennon was killed in 1980—has been the site of numerous ghost sightings, including reports of a little girl with a ball and a figure resembling Lennon himself.
Bellevue Hospital Center: Established in 1736, Bellevue is the oldest public hospital in the United States and a pioneering institution in American medicine, having created the first maternity ward, established the first ambulance service, and opened the first psychiatric ward.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital: Formed in 1998 from the merger of two historic institutions—New York Hospital (founded 1771) and Presbyterian Hospital (founded 1868)—it is consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the nation and is affiliated with Columbia and Cornell medical schools.
Mount Sinai Hospital: Founded in 1852 as Jews' Hospital, Mount Sinai became a world leader in medical research and education, known for pioneering work in cardiology, geriatrics, and genomics.
About the Book
Dr. Kolbaba's interviews took place in settings ranging from hospital cafeterias to private offices to late-night phone calls.
Medical Heritage in New York
New York has been the epicenter of American medicine since the colonial era. The Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, established in 1767 as the medical faculty of King's College, is the oldest medical school in the state. Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan, tracing its origins to 1736, is the oldest public hospital in the United States and pioneered America's first ambulance service in 1869, first maternity ward, and first cardiac catheterization. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, formed by the 1998 merger of Columbia-Presbyterian and New York Hospital-Cornell, consistently ranks among the top hospitals in the world.
The state's contributions to medicine are staggering in scope. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh but was born and educated in New York City, and the first mass polio vaccinations took place in New York in 1955. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, founded in 1884, became the world's preeminent cancer hospital. The New York Blood Center pioneered modern blood banking. Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, was one of the first hospitals to accept patients regardless of race, religion, or ability to pay. Upstate, the University of Rochester Medical Center and the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo have made foundational contributions to ophthalmology and oncology respectively.
Reader Ratings Distribution
Based on 1,018 Goodreads ratings
Research Finding
Coloring books for adults reduce anxiety and depression scores comparably to meditation in randomized trials.
Supernatural Folklore and Ghost Traditions in New York
New York's supernatural folklore spans from the colonial legends of the Hudson Valley to the urban ghost stories of Manhattan. Washington Irving's 1820 tale of the Headless Horseman was inspired by real Dutch colonial ghost stories from Sleepy Hollow (then called North Tarrytown), and the Old Dutch Church and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery remain pilgrimage sites for those drawn to the legend. The Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, Manhattan's oldest surviving house (built 1765), is reportedly haunted by Eliza Jumel, whose ghost has been seen in a violet-colored dress; students from a nearby school fled in 1964 after reportedly seeing her apparition.
The Dakota apartment building on the Upper West Side, where John Lennon was murdered in 1980, has a long pre-existing reputation for hauntings dating to its construction in 1884. Residents including Lennon's widow Yoko Ono have reported seeing Lennon's ghost in the building's hallways. In the Adirondacks, Skene Manor in Whitehall—built in 1874 by Judge Joseph Potter—is haunted by the ghost of his wife, whose body he reportedly kept sealed in a vault beneath the house for years after her death. Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany, originally a county poor house opened in 1827, is considered one of the most haunted locations in the Northeast, with over 1,700 documented deaths on the property.
Research Finding
Community supported agriculture (CSA) participation is associated with increased vegetable consumption and reduced food insecurity.
Haunted Hospitals and Medical Landmarks in New York
Old Bellevue Hospital Morgue (Manhattan): Bellevue Hospital's old morgue in the basement of the original 26th Street building processed thousands of bodies over more than a century. Morgue workers over the decades reported bodies that appeared to shift position overnight, unexplained temperature drops, and the sound of whispered conversations in the cold storage rooms when no living person was present.
Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Long Island): Kings Park operated from 1885 to 1996 on over 800 acres of Long Island. At its height, it housed over 9,000 patients. Building 93, a towering 13-story structure, is the most investigated site—paranormal teams have recorded shadow figures, disembodied voices, and inexplicable cold drafts in the abandoned wards. The facility's history of lobotomies and insulin shock therapy contributes to its dark reputation.
“A book praised by ministers, professors, physicians, and general readers alike for its authenticity and emotional power.”
— Physicians' Untold Stories
How This Book Can Help You
New York, home to the greatest concentration of hospitals and physicians in the nation, from Bellevue to Memorial Sloan Kettering, is a place where the sheer volume of clinical encounters makes the kind of unexplained phenomena Dr. Kolbaba describes in Physicians' Untold Stories statistically inevitable. The intensity of New York medicine—where residents at institutions like NewYork-Presbyterian see more death in a month than many rural doctors see in a year—creates conditions ripe for the extraordinary experiences Dr. Kolbaba, trained at Mayo Clinic and practicing at Northwestern Medicine, has carefully documented from physicians who dare to share what they've witnessed.
The Northeast's mental health community near Clover, New York City, New York will recognize in this book the clinical importance of taking extraordinary experiences seriously. Patients who report ghostly encounters or NDEs and are dismissed as delusional by their physicians may develop secondary trauma from the dismissal itself. This book argues for a medical culture that can hold space for the unexplained without pathologizing it.

Reader Ratings Distribution
Based on 1,018 Goodreads ratings
“Readers have called Physicians' Untold Stories "Chicken Soup for Doctor's Souls" — a testament to its emotional impact.”
— Physicians' Untold Stories
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Discover the Stories Medicine Never Says Out Loud
Physicians' Untold Stories by Scott J. Kolbaba, MD — 4.5 stars from 1018 readers.
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