Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore Op ed about the life and death of Dr. Susan Moore, a black family physician who died of COVID in December, after recording a post relating her racist treatment while a patient.
PPE-clad doctor comforts lonely elderly covid 19 patient The doctor's new role: family member, hug, hand...heartbreaking photo shows PPE-clad doctor comforting lonely, elderly covid-19 patient
Reentry This is a NEJM perspective piece written by a palliative care doctor in NYC in light of the COVID pandemic. A snippet: "From March to June 2020, I led a palliative care team embedded in our hospital’s Covid ICU. We spoke to countless families over the phone and by Zoom calls to tell them their loved ones were critically ill, getting sicker, and eventually, dying. When the prognosis seemed dire, we recommended transitioning to comfort-focused care. And in patients’ final hours and days, we held iPads at their bedsides so that family members around the world could say goodbye."
As they rush to save lives, health care workers are updating their own wills and funeral plans The coronavirus crisis has forced those at the front lines of treatment to confront their own mortality. This article highlights a former Navy ER physician.
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.
What makes a life worth living in the face of death In this deeply moving talk, Lucy Kalanithi reflects on life and purpose, sharing the story of her late husband, Paul, a young neurosurgeon who turned to writing after his terminal cancer diagnosis. "Engaging in the full range of experience — living and dying, love and loss — is what we get to do," Kalanithi says. "Being human doesn't happen despite suffering — it happens within it."
Sight Unseen (must download to hear) Listen to a family's reaction after learning that their son's death had been documented by a photographer embedded with a medevac team in Afghanistan.
Deceit & I RJ Walker performs this emotion-provoking poem about the large role that deceit undeniably plays in our lives and careers as a tool to save others from pain.
Everything Doesn't Happen for a Reason An essay on the importance of grieving and avoidance of "platitudes cloaked as sophistication" from "The Adversity Within" - a blog dedicated to examining the topic of resilience in the face of adversity
Getting Grief Right by Patrick O'Malley Common knowledge is that people go through stages of grief - progressing from one to the next. Not only is this an oversimplification, but providers' assumption that this is how grief "should" be processed may cause our patients harm.
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.
What makes a life worth living in the face of death In this deeply moving talk, Lucy Kalanithi reflects on life and purpose, sharing the story of her late husband, Paul, a young neurosurgeon who turned to writing after his terminal cancer diagnosis. "Engaging in the full range of experience — living and dying, love and loss — is what we get to do," Kalanithi says. "Being human doesn't happen despite suffering — it happens within it."
Sight Unseen (must download to hear) Listen to a family's reaction after learning that their son's death had been documented by a photographer embedded with a medevac team in Afghanistan.
Murderer in the Mirror Surgeon Scott Eggener recalls the devastation of the first time a patient dies on his operating table.
Deceit & I RJ Walker performs this emotion-provoking poem about the large role that deceit undeniably plays in our lives and careers as a tool to save others from pain.
Everything Doesn't Happen for a Reason An essay on the importance of grieving and avoidance of "platitudes cloaked as sophistication" from "The Adversity Within" - a blog dedicated to examining the topic of resilience in the face of adversity
Getting Grief Right by Patrick O'Malley Common knowledge is that people go through stages of grief - progressing from one to the next. Not only is this an oversimplification, but providers' assumption that this is how grief "should" be processed may cause our patients harm.
"Still Point": A Mediation on Mothering a Dying Child - Emily Rapp The struggles and emotions experienced parenting a child with Tay-Sachs disease.