Palliation.

These are issues that I hold close to my heart. I believe most of us fear death in one way or another, and seeing how families have to go through such loss makes you think a lot. About life and death. About fulfillment. About how illness and disease impacts the patient and his/her family in a way more than we could imagine.

One of our tutors shared with us something that I found rather inspiring; patients may forget what you say to them, but they hardly forget how you make them feel. Observing history taking in palliative medicine is very special. The doctors don't rush through the consultation, but spend time exploring not only the medical needs of the patient, but the psychosocial aspects as well. I sat through a 1.5 hour consultation on Monday, and was truly amazed at Dr Goh's patience and understanding. The relationship built is not transient or fleeting, and I think that there are so many admirable things about a such a doctor-patient relationship. May we be able to learn much from these qualities, and apply them to every aspect of medicine that we will face in future.