Do No Harm follows the development of a physician from childhood to elderhood. His descriptions of growing up in the Midwest as a scholar/athlete, transitioning to focus on academics in college, and graduating from medical school are a common pathway for physicians. His fortunes turned when the Navy assigned him to sea duty as medical officer for a LST squadron home-ported in Japan. His medical training was challenged as he made assault landings in Vietnam, relieved a ship’s captain, and observed the brute force of the U.S. military and its results. He shares his family life in Japan and how it influenced their lives and their views of the world. He shares his inner thoughts about caring for patients as a practicing lung physician, as a prison internist, teaching sex in Sunday school, being sued for malpractice, and burying his medical-school cadaver. When he shares his beliefs and values in a series of lists as a coda, he shares the wisdom that comes from a life well lived.

Stuart Hanson was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and attended Washburn High School, Dartmouth College, and Dartmouth and the University of Minnesota Medical Schools.. He served in the United States Navy in Vietnam and Japan. He practiced pulmonary and critical care medicine at Park Nicollet Health Services in Minneapolis for forty-one years before retiring in 2012. He has held leadership positions in multiple medical organizations. His public policy interests have included tobacco control, workplace behavior and culture, health system-reform, and issues related to end of life care. He lives with his wife in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. They have two adult children. “A good memoir is entertaining, educational and, at its best, enlightening and inspirational. Dr. Hanson’s memoir checks all the boxes and more. Highly readable and honest, it is also laced with wonderful photos from a bygone era that you don’t have to be a Hanson family member to enjoy. My favorite part of the book, though, is his “Operational Principles.” After all it’s not often that an eminent physician gives you his prescription for a healthy, happy life.” – Joe Kita, author of Wisdom of our Fathers and The Father’s Guide to the Meaning of Life, and Executive Writer for Men’s Health Magazine “Athlete, scholar, naval officer, world traveler, family man – a telling account of the events that shaped the life of a prominent and influential Minnesota physician.” – Robert J. Taylor, author of Hardship Post and Memories Lost and Found, and international healthcare consultant