As we approach the end of our 22nd season, I would like to thank our audience for trusting us to bring them health information that is current and accurate. There are many doctors out there who cannot make the same claims as the Prairie Doc’s and I would like to take this opportunity to help sort out those charlatans and quacks from trusted sources of health information.

While tasty and refreshing, I would not trust Dr. Pepper for medical advice. Nor would I trust Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, despite his claims that he went to “four years of Evil Medical School.” I like to read Dr. Seuss’ books, but I would not let him take a look. While I think he is a dear, I would not let him peek in my ear. He is not the doctor that I want to see if I needed an appendectomy.

While you can trust Doc Martin and his shoes to help you look cool, I am certain he has no medical training. Doc Brown from Back to the Future is another doctor I’m not sure I would listen to. Beside the fact that he likely has a PhD rather than an MD/DO degree, can you really trust someone who would make a time machine out of a Delorian?

“The Doctor” from Doctor Who, is someone whom his companions trust with their life. Unfortunately a sonic screwdriver will not replace a stethoscope for making a medical diagnosis. The Doctor has also been known to put those companions in grave danger from Daleks and Cybermen. Although Dr. Steven Strange from the Marvel Universe is a legitimate doctor by training, I suspect he allowed his license and board certification to lapse when he became an Avenger. Thus he would not be my first choice for current medical advice or treatment. Similarly, I would not let Doc Octo, a known villain from the Spider-Man series, use any of his mechanical arms examine me.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Pierce, aka “Hawkeye” from M.A.S.H., was an excellent surgeon, but his treatments and techniques are decades out of date. We have come a long way in surgery and anesthesia since the Korean War. I would also trust Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, but only if I was living back in the 1800’s on the prairie. The current Prairie Docs have much more training and knowledge than she had access to at the time.

As you can see, there are many doctors out there. However, when looking for medical advice, you need not only someone you can trust, but also someone who has the training to give you the most current and up to date advice.

The Prairie Docs strive to answer your medical questions each week with such information. So tune in and ask anything. We are here to help you stay healthy out there, with health information that is based on science and built on over 20 years of trust.

Jill Kruse, D.O., is part of The Prairie Doc team of physicians and currently practices as a hospitalist in Brookings. Follow The Prairie Doc at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook and Instagram featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc, a medical Q&A show providing health information based on science, built on trust, on SDPB and streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.