500 episodes listed below
Careful medical answers from the prairie clinic.
Prairie Doc Radio pairs Laura Ellsworth with physicians, a dietitian, and a researcher for steady, plainspoken conversations about common medical questions. Its center of gravity is practical care: symptoms, prevention, screenings, treatment choices, and when a primary care doctor should be involved.
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Prairie Doc Radio is a calm, interview-centered medical program with a strong public-health sensibility. Its basic shape is simple. Laura Ellsworth introduces a practical concern, then a medical guest or Prairie Doc physician explains what is happening in the body and what choices usually come next. The show’s recent episodes range from heart health to vaccines, sleep apnea, nutrition, anatomy research, aging, and bone health. It does not rush through those subjects. A conversation about the heart may pause on how chambers squeeze and relax, why valves can leak or stiffen, and how coronary arteries affect chest pain during activity. The language stays accessible while still making room for real medical terms. That balance is the show’s main strength. It treats listeners as capable adults who may not know the vocabulary yet but can follow a careful explanation when it is grounded in ordinary experience. Preventive care is a recurring theme. High blood pressure is discussed as dangerous partly because people may feel no immediate change when treatment is working. Vaccines are handled through memory, risk, and community experience, especially around chickenpox and complications that many younger parents may never have seen firsthand. Sleep apnea receives a practical treatment lens, with CPAP use, masks, colds, naps, travel, dental devices, sleeping position, and weight loss all placed in real-life context. Nutrition episodes keep food connected to health rather than trend culture. Bone health conversations explain osteoporosis as an ongoing remodeling problem, with attention to postmenopausal women, men with added risk factors, DEXA scans, fractures, and coverage barriers. The Ask Anything episodes give the series a wider doorway. Pilot physicals, yearly exams, celiac disease, CPAP logistics, and pain medication reactions can sit beside bigger prevention questions without feeling scattered. The show is also distinctly local. Brookings Health System, Avera Medical Group Brookings, South Dakota State University, and South Dakota medical practice are not background decoration; they shape the examples and the patient scenarios. Dr. Jill Cruz, Dr. Deb Johnston, Dr. Andrew Ellsworth, Dr. Kelly Evans-Hullinger, Dr. Ethan Snow, and Katie VanderWaal each bring a different corner of health care or medical education into view. The tone is warm but not glossy. It is reassuring because it is specific. Prairie Doc Radio fits listeners who want medical explanation that sounds close to a good clinic conversation: measured, direct, and aware that the next right step often starts with a primary care appointment.
Made for: Designed for patients, caregivers, and health-curious listeners who prefer steady explanations of common medical decisions. It especially suits people who want prevention, screening, and symptom questions handled in plain language.
What sets it apart: Prairie Doc Radio stands apart by combining listener questions with local medical voices from Brookings and South Dakota institutions. Its episodes stay close to real clinic concerns instead of chasing wellness trends or abstract medical news.
Join us as we delve into the world of medicine and strive to answer your questions with honesty and accuracy. Thank you for tuning in to Prairie Doc Podcast, where science is our guide and trust is our foundation. Let's continue our journey towards better health together.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Patient questions meet practical physician explanations, giving everyday medical decisions more context and fewer mysteries.
Prairie Doc Radio turns listener medical questions into calm, plainspoken conversations between Laura Ellsworth and practicing physicians. Allergies, sleep apnea, bone health, vaccines, and the physical changes of aging receive the same useful treatment: define the issue,…
Medical questions meet physicians who explain why 'nothing bad happens' can be a treatment win.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear heart-health conversation about how the heart works, why blockages matter, and why blood pressure treatment can help even when it is not felt.
Prairie Doc Radio opens with Laura Ellsworth and Dr. Jill Cruz, a hospitalist with the Brookings Health System and one of the program's four Prairie Doc hosts, before settling into a plainspoken look at how the heart works.
A plain case for vaccines through chickenpox, memory, and the costs families no longer see.
Prairie Doc Radio turns listener questions into a clear look at vaccines, memory, and how older diseases can fade from view. Dr. Deb Johnston, a family medicine doctor with Avera Medical Group Brookings, makes the case for why chickenpox still matters, moving from the old idea…
A practical sleep apnea conversation about keeping CPAP realistic when ordinary life interrupts treatment.
Sleep apnea is treated here as a problem that shows up in ordinary nights, not just in a diagnosis. CPAP stays at the center of the discussion, with steady attention to using it whenever a person sleeps, including naps, and to the small interruptions that can derail a routine,…
A practical osteoporosis discussion on estrogen loss, men's risk, and when bone-density screening belongs in primary care.
Bone health is framed as a primary-care conversation about timing, hormones, and knowing which questions to bring up before a fracture forces the issue. Laura Ellsworth asks Dr.
A practical episode on food-allergy vigilance, cross-contamination risk, and checking whether a penicillin label is accurate.
Food allergies are framed as serious risk, not routine discomfort. Dr. Jill Cruz lays out why anaphylaxis, severe vomiting, and dehydration can turn eating out into a careful routine of label-reading, questions, and vigilance.
Clear guidance for vision, hearing, and inclusion.
Military medicine, explained through consequence.
Fast headlines with live-radio texture.
Dr.
Laura Ellsworth opens Prairie Doc Radio and thanks listeners for sending in questions.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode features a conversation with registered dietitian Katie VanderWal about nutrition, healthy eating, and how food can help maintain health, as part of the Prairie Doc Radio Podcast's health education mission.
This episode of Prairie Doc Radio features host Laura Ellsworth and Dr.
Laura Ellsworth welcomes listeners and introduces Dr.
Prairie Doc Radio opens with Laura Ellsworth introducing a conversation on sleep apnea.
Prairie Doc Radio opens a conversation about osteoporosis.
Prairie Doc Radio spends this hour on allergies, moving from tree pollen and ragweed to peanut anaphylaxis, penicillin labels, and food intolerance.
This episode features a discussion with Dr.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
Dr.
Internal medicine physician Dr.
Host Laura Ellsworth interviews Dr.