Follow Along

My first book Nevada EMS - A History of Emergency Medical Services in Nevada is now available as a free downloadable PDF file. Get your copy here. The file is about 159MB, so please be patient as it downloads.

(Originally published by Nevada Humanities, www.nevadahumanities.org, on July 12, 2021.) Each evening as I sit at the kitchen table my view is of the Virginia Range. For 26 years I have watched the light and shadows on the ridges and gullies of the Virginias sharpen,...

The recent spate of earthquakes experienced in Northern Nevada reminded me of my first Nevada earthquake in 1959. I was the doctor on call at the USPHS Indian Hospital in Schurz, NV. My housing was next door to the hospital so a call from the nurse that a lady in...

Each evening as I sit at the kitchen table my view is of the Virginia Range. For 26 years I have watched the light and shadows on the ridges and gullies of the Virginias sharpen, soften, then fade into darkness and change with the seasons. The scene has always been...

Dr. Elwood Schmidt addressed members of the Mesquite Club in Las Vegas, NV on April 9th.  Schmidt said his book was written as a glimpse back into medical practice in small towns throughout the southwest in the mid to late 20th century and even early 21st century.  He...

THE DOCTOR'S BLACK BAG: A collection of debut short essays recalling the author’s experiences during five decades as a general practitioner in the American Southwest. This memoir, which has a fluid timeline that moves back and forth over more than four decades, is...

If you enjoyed The Doctor's Black Bag and want more, (or just want a taste of what the book is about), follow me here to read more stories about rural medicine in the twentieth century.

The Doctor's Black Bag is available on BookBaby.com, Amazon, and all e-book formats. Also, it is physically available in store in Reno at Grass Roots Books and Sundance Books.

The reader is taken on a trip through medical school, internship, and government service with the Hopi and Navajo in Arizona and with the Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe in Nevada. Private practices in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada provide illuminating anecdotes...