Tag: hospice

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The Emotional Cost of Clarity

In palliative care, doing the right thing doesn’t always earn applause. Sometimes it gets you removed from the team. A recent JAMA article—”Why Good Palliative Care Clinicians Get Fired”—underscores the vulnerability of clinicians who communicate honestly about serious illness in a system that often treats dying as a failure. Even when delivered with skill and compassion, such honesty can provoke discomfort or resistance, revealing the … Continue reading The Emotional Cost of Clarity

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD
Essays, Medical Humanities, Patient-Physician Relationship

What If This Is the Best I’ll Ever Feel?

Im not afraid of dying, she said, smiling at me. I feel like Im on a runway, about to take off. Her words, spoken with such clarity by a woman facing two advanced cancers, have stayed with me. As a palliative care physician, I wish more patients felt empowered to face their mortality with such openness. But the truth is, we, as a society and … Continue reading What If This Is the Best I’ll Ever Feel?

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD