… He knew how to listen. He listened intensely. He was not listening for the slip where he could introduce a wedge of condemnation, but so that he could grasp all the energy of the hidden spring from which words pour forth. And when he answered, he would unveil prospects that attracted his interlocutor, like […]
on how to listen … Read More »
… use of the first-person plural … One of our articles in Journal Club this week is Kinsman et. al.’s “We’ll Do this Together”: The Role of the First Person Plural in Fostering Partnership in Patient-physician Relationships. (J Gen Intern Med 25(3):186-93) (NLM link) Tulsky comments in PC-FACS … “This well designed mixed-methods study demonstrates
patient – physician communication … Read More »
… a wide-ranging memoir of the author’s father’s encounter with the modern medical system. “The pacemaker bought my parents two years of limbo, two of purgatory and two of hell…”
what broke my father’s heart … Read More »
Checklist Manifesto … Gawande’s best-seller on the humble checklist as a fulcrum of quality improvement … … ends up arguing that we should ” embrac[e] a culture of teamwork and discipline.” (p. 160) The ‘checklist’ is really just a catalyst, a tool, to get people to talk to each other and work together as a
atul gawande … on improvement Read More »
… of the most absolute human loneliness we can listen to a voice that calls us, and we can find a hand that takes hold of us and leads us out. The human being lives because he is loved and can love; if love has penetrated even into the realm of death, life has arrived
even in the extreme darkness … Read More »
We recently discussed Kelly, Varghese and Pelusi’s article “Countertransference and ethics: A perspective on clinical dilemmas in end-of-life decisions” … an excellent introduction to the many inter-personal, emotional and spiritual realities that inevitably inform any decision, in particular decisions near the end of life. A couple of quotes from the article …
… GeriPal has a great thread going in answer to the question “If you have to share ONE TIP with your fellow Geriatricians and Gerontologists about palliative care of older adults, what would it be?” Many years ago, a wise physician counseled me … “In every clinical encounter, always sit down and always touch the
care for older adults … Read More »
… EPERC has a great series of articles on how to conduct family meetings which we discussed at Hospice Palliative Medicine Journal Club this morning.
family conferences … Read More »
… in a room … where people are under a lot of stress, you have to pray a prayer of forgiveness for them and perhaps for yourself before going in. You have to forgive them right out because you don’t always find them at their best. A lot of things that have been kept silent
a prayer before rounds … Read More »
Discussing Treatment Preferences With Patients Who Want “Everything” (Annals of Internal Medicine) … is a practical article that helps us better understand what our patients and their families may be asking us when they say they want “everything” done.
