![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-ROCKDOC-2-0308.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nDoctors really want you to get screened for colorectal cancer. So some are picking guitars and setting up a giant walk-through inflatable model of a colon.<\/p>\n
Rockdoc and the Healers, an ensemble of doctors and local professional musicians, will perform Friday, March 27, at a free event at the Theater at North in Scranton. The event logo is a cartoon guitar with a colon as the strap. The Bob Seger song \u201cFire Down Below\u201d has been turned into a song about hemorrhoids.<\/p>\n
Northeast Pennsylvanians contract colorectal cancer at a rate that is 7% to 14% more than the national average.<\/p>\n
The goal is to make colorectal cancer guidelines a song you can\u2019t get out of your head.<\/p>\n
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Dr. Stephen Eskin, left, and professional musicians Keith White and Melanie Hansen
\n (COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)\n<\/p>\n
![\"Reese](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-REESE-0308-01.jpg?w=348\")
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Reese Hofstrand, doctor, guitarist and vocalist. (COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)\n<\/p>\n
Show Caption<\/p>\n
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Dr. Stephen Eskin, left, and professional musicians Keith White and Melanie Hansen
\n (COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s what I think music does, if it\u2019s the right kind of composition, the right kind of mixture of fun, as well as the right amount of repetition,\u201d said Dr. Stephen Eskin. \u201cThen basically what I\u2019m doing is I\u2019m giving a medical lecture that\u2019s in the form of a rock concert.\u201d<\/p>\n Eskin lives in Maine and has been doing similar events for 25 years, mostly in schools.<\/p>\n Dr. Peter Iskander organized the event after two unsettling local cases. He is a gastroenterology fellow and internal medicine residency graduate at the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education in Scranton.<\/p>\n A woman in her 60s came in with rectal bleeding. \u201cObviously the first question we usually ask is if you\u2019ve ever had a colonoscopy and things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd she told me she\u2019s never had a colonoscopy because women don\u2019t get colon cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society.<\/p>\n Another patient couldn\u2019t believe that he had colon cancer because he doesn\u2019t have a family history. But genetics isn\u2019t the only factor. Colorectal cancer is associated with illnesses such as Crohn\u2019s disease, obesity and lifestyle choices such as lack of physical activity, poor diet, tobacco use and excessive drinking.<\/p>\n Both patients are doing well after surgery.<\/p>\n Iskander is not in the band. The local \u201cRocdoc\u201d is Dr. Reese Hofstrand, a fellow in the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education\u2019s Gastroenterology Fellowship program. He\u2019s been in bands before and will sing and play guitar.<\/p>\n The professional musicians are Melanie Hansen, Keith White, Dan Dearborn and Bryan Banks.<\/p>\n Colonoscopy is the gold standard for detection and prevention. Removing precancerous polyps during a colonoscopy can prevent cancer.<\/p>\n To help make that point, the walk-through inflatable colon will have polyps. The event is called Louder Than Cancer! It will also include a press conference by doctors, a photo booth, raffles and informational tables. It begins at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n The band\u2019s set of nine songs begins at 6 p.m. Some are parodies and others are original works on the theme.<\/p>\n Admission is free, but before the event the audience is asked to fill out a brief electronic survey on their knowledge of colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n Donations will be collected for the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute.<\/p>\n The link for advance tickets, the survey and educational materials is lnk.bio\/louderthancancer<\/a>. Walk-ins are welcome.<\/p>\n If you go<\/p>\n What: Louder than Cancer!, a free concert featuring guitar-playing doctors and regional professional musicians. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education is the presenting sponsor.<\/p>\n When: Friday, March 27. Doors open for informational sessions at 5 p.m. The concert is at 6.<\/p>\n Where: The Theater at North, 1539 N. Main Ave., Scranton.<\/p>\n