Keyword: death
Thriving in Scrubs: How Much Time Do I Have, Doctor? Fictional accounts of medical encounters often feature the conversation when a patient asks their doctor to predict the outcome of their disease. Doctors in real life have to answer these questions, too, but without the benefit of a pre-written script. Thinking about prognostication means trying to answer difficult questions, but more importantly trying to get to the heart of what the patient may really be wondering. It’s about trying to connect with the heart of what patients need in times of uncertainty about their health. It’s also about understanding how these conversations affect us doctors as people who struggle with some of the same questions ourselves.
Preparing for a good end of life The best way to achieve a peaceful death is by planning ahead and enlisting the help of loved ones.
Helping patients face death, she fought to live A palliative care doctor, faced with extensive metastatic cancer, grappled with what she recommended for patients and what she wanted for herself - which was treatment and cure, at all cost.
Letting go What should medicine do when it can't save you? Dr. Atul Gawande examines the way doctors try to approach death and dying - sometimes well, often inadequately. How long have I got left? A young neurosurgeon describes his struggle with living and dying, in the framework of incurable cancer. The murderer in the mirror (2 min read) A surgeon's reflection on the death of his patient. A birth plan for dying Hanna Neuschwander grapples with ending a wanted pregnancy, and finds that “right” or “wrong” fail to describe the moral reckoning.
Contributor: Francesca CiminoOctober 1, 2018Topics: Death&Dying / Grief / Loss / PerspectiveKeywords: birth / death / loss
Dying Well Is there a way to talk about death candidly, without fear ... and even with humor? How can we best prepare for it with those we love? This hour, TED speakers explore the beauty of life ... and death. When you click on the link, you can see all the little segments or listen to the whole thing. It's lovely.
What happens when a patient says, "Doc, help me die." Mercy, compassion - does this fade at the end of life? Does ending a life conflict with our values as physicians? Read for one physician's perspective.