Dr. Edward Picardi

Dr. Edward Picardi was born in Philadelphia and began his undergraduate training at the University of Pennsylvania where he received his BSE degrees in BioEngineering and Mechanical Engineering. From there he received his Medical Degree at Hahnemann/Drexel University. With the beliefs that all citizens should pay back to our Nation for our liberties he enlisted in the United States Air Force and was stationed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio where he completed his General Surgery training with the Wright-State University. It is in Dayton where he met his future bride, Sandra, a Registered Nurse working at the Dayton Veteran’s Hospital.

Afterwards Dr. Edward Picardi was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. After the completion of Desert Shield/Desert Storm Dr. Edward Picardi went into private practice in South Dakota. There he spent time treating patients at the nearby Veteran’s Hospital and at the Indian Health Hospital on the nearby Native American Reservation. Dr. Edward Picardi and his wife, Sandra, returned to Ohio at the onset of Covid to practice in a Catholic Charity hospital in eastern Ohio in the third highest Covid affected region in the Nation.

Dr. Edward Picardi is now a Board Certified General Surgeon, highly skilled with decades of experience who deeply upholds his moral and Christian ethics, abides by his Hippocratic Oath, and believes in the sanctity of life for both the unborn and the elderly. Dr. Edward Picardi, a 13 year military veteran, understands the need to serve and he, together with his wife, volunteer medical missionary in western Africa annually. Dr. Edward Picardi and Sandra go wherever they believe they are being called to go.

Dr. Edward Picardi, licensed in five states, is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and utilizes his skills in general surgery, including advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgeries. While in the military Dr. Edward Picardi received extensive training in advanced trauma management.

Dr. Edward Picardi had obtained national celebrity status for his advocacy for the unborn and the protection of the elderly. He and his wife have suffered for such advocacy which they were able to overcome by the strength of their love for each other and their Christian beliefs.

Dr. Ed Picardi is highly respected by his patients and peers. The volunteer medical missionary trips Dr. Edward Picardi and his wife take to western Africa assist in providing care to some of the poorest people on the planet. Dr. Picardi returned to eastern Ohio at the beginning of the Covid into the third highest Covid affected regions in the USA. Dr. Picardi’s experiences in Western Africa after Eboli helped Dr. Picardi provide assistance during the initial part of the pandemic.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

When possible, I start the day with my wife with a breakfast and prayer of thanks. I then see my hospital patients and prepare for surgical cases. After each case I spend some time with the patient’s family. Afterwards I see my patients in my office and other patients in the hospital.

Once home with my wife, who also works as a Registered Nurse at the hospital, we always try to have dinner together, pray and give thanks. In the evening I telephone those patients who went home. When not at work my wife and I enjoy camping and hiking.

How do you bring ideas to life?

In part, thanks to my engineering background, I have the ability of creating things which I see in my mind. Whether it be rebuilding my front steps of our home or whether it be assisting me with a difficult situation in the operating room Our Lord has gifted me with the ability of using my hands to make physical what I can envision.

What’s one trend that excites you?

In surgery, the use of robotics which improves visualization, increases dexterity all while decreasing pain, decreasing risks and morbidity and decreasing hospitalizations is quite exciting. It is quite reminiscent of the excitement about the new laparoscopic surgery approaches when I began laparoscopic surgery in 1989.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Maintain honesty and trust with my patients and treat them the way I would want to be treated.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Stay out of the public limelight and don’t cross powerful people.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

To be a great doctor, a great healer, you must be willing to sacrifice. Doctors, like first responders, run into the flames. Especially being a surgeon, your patient is, literally, trusting you with their lives. That is an awesome level of trust and responsibility. Only by sacrifice can a surgeon be worthy of such trust by a patient. No matter where it takes you or when, that trust placed upon the surgeon must never be broken.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Treat your patients the way you want to be treated.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Each night I call my patients who went home that day simply to check on them. I also have been giving my personal phone number to my patients for over thirty years. I tell them that if they can trust me with their lives, I can certainly trust them with my phone number. In thirty years I have never had a patient abuse having my personal telephone number.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Being advocates for the unborn and against euthanasia for the elderly we inadvertently became national celebrities when we opposed legislation which advanced abortion and also euthanasia for the elderly. We ran afoul of powerful people which didn’t go well for us. It was the unflinching love we have for each other, the strength of our Christian and ethical beliefs, along with the support of many, many dear friends which got us through everything which was thrown at us.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I like “doctor-stuff.” I like healing especially those poor patients who don’t really have much of a chance. I don’t like “not doctor stuff”. I was in solo practice for quite a while and let other people do the financial and administrative stuff of which I was not interested. Newer doctors, simply to protect their practices, need to have a better understanding of that “not doctor stuff” which never interested me.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

We are getting ready for our next medical missionary trip in a few months and I just spent about $100 on the anti-malaria pills we will need to take for the month while in western Africa. That’s probably the best spent $100 in recent months.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I use the Internet to communicate with other missionary doctors to see what items might be worth bringing over when we travel to western Africa. Sometimes antibiotics are needed. Sometimes simply surgical supplies or suture material is most needed.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Without question, The Bible. It is as much a historical document spanning 5000 years as it is an instructional manual for adults. Our Nation would be doing much better if more people realized the significance of the Bible.

What is your favorite quote?

Treat people the way you want to be treated.