- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward 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 health information websites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the website) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
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Stress blog
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Nov. 30, 2010
Contingency planning is more than just talk
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
As you go through life, you probably have a Plan A — hopes, dreams, relationships and achievements you hope to attain. Do you also have a Plan B? Or do you just hope for the best?
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The question occurred to me while on a recent trip. A number of flights were canceled or delayed, and my travel companions and I agreed we needed a backup plan. The consensus was that we should take a bus to a neighboring city and fly out of that city to our final destination.
Everybody agreed this was a good plan, and we relaxed with cups of coffee as we congratulated ourselves on our brilliance. However, no one took charge of the plan. None of us made connections with the bus company, and none of us looked into alternate flights. So we really weren't prepared to cope with a cancellation or any other kink in our plans.
My point is that just talking about Plan B doesn't make it happen. You have to be proactive. In fact, you must make a conscious effort to create a viable contingency plan instead of sticking your head in the sand or giving it only lip service.
5 comments posted
April 7, 2013 12:41 p.m.
I agree with Disagree.
- Sue
June 13, 2011 12:03 a.m.
It's a matter of how you grew up and where. If you are from a struggling society where survival is an everyday exercise you put your energy in to plan A, in fact you only create plan B when plan A fails. But because this is what you have been doing since you are a kid...all your life, over and over, you become a master when it comes to improvising a plan B. When you grow up under stress, stress will not cloud your mind, on the contrary, stress clears up your mind and helps you deliver in a pinch. When you grew up struggling you compare your self to people that had it all, happy parents, food, education, electricity, medical care, sports ( what a luxury sports are) and you wonder: Imagine how far I would have gotten in life if I would have had all that ? Wow just imagine!
- Nimo
December 10, 2010 3:36 p.m.
Just came back from the Mayo-Bethesda Health Care Reform Meeting this week. Pretty upsetting when I have Dystonia, at present, the last day of the event, I woke up feeling what am I so upset about all this Primary Care about when I believe The Mayo Clinic will find as always the best treatment for me even with all of these laws changing. I Believe in Mayo and that's that! However, I will learn as much as I can about my disease and I'm going to find the best way to do this so I can work with Dystonia patients who are experiencing much more today then I am. Any suggestions? I am a volunteer advocate for Dystonia now working with the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation in Chicago and they are just wonderful as well as supportive.
- Kristina
December 5, 2010 7:27 a.m.
The contingency plan reminds me of CPR, take charge--Annie, Annie (travel, travel) are you all right? Disagree, you go call XYZ for help (with alternate flights), and come back to help (give real lip service)...
- Big Carol
December 3, 2010 6:03 a.m.
It seems to me that contingency planning should only be just like the flying folks did . . . have a back up plan, but don't put energy into it unless your original plan falls through. It sounds to me like they did what they should have, and what we should do as well. Plan and put your energy into the Plan A and have a semblance of a Plan B in mind. Put all of your energy into Plan A so it will work. Then IF it fails, start to put your energy into Plan B. If you put too much energy in Plan B to begin with, you just may sabatoge your Plan A--which is what you really wanted after all.
- Disagree
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