A pervasive myth in medicine is that doctors shouldn't talk about death with their patients. But Stephanie Harman, MD, knows better. During her first week of …
Tag: end-of-life
Avoiding invasive treatment in dying patients may not shorten lifespan
Withdrawing or withholding invasive medical treatments to keep very ill patients in the ICU comfortable and communicative may not hasten their death.
Withdrawing or withholding invasive medical treatments to keep very ill patients in the ICU comfortable and communicative may not hasten their death.
Doctors’ notes hold clues about cancer patient survival
A Stanford-designed computer algorithm helps doctors predict the lifespan of patients with metastatic cancer by looking for clues in their own exam notes.
A Stanford-designed computer algorithm helps doctors predict the lifespan of patients with metastatic cancer by looking for clues in their own exam notes.
Discussing care goals with a nonclinical worker brings higher patient satisfaction, lower costs, study finds
Stanford's Manali Patel found higher satisfaction and lower costs for advanced cancer patients who spoke with a nonclinical worker about care preferences.
Stanford's Manali Patel found higher satisfaction and lower costs for advanced cancer patients who spoke with a nonclinical worker about care preferences.
Stanford Letter Project, which helps users have end-of-life discussions, now available for mobile devices
For many of us, the topic of how we want to spend our final days rarely comes up in discussions with our family members or …
Stanford doctor on a mission to empower patients to talk about end-of-life issues
Each year, about 2.6 million people die in America. Although past research has shown that 7 out of 10 of us prefer to die at …
Medicare to pay for end-of-life conversations with patients
Remember “death panels?" In the summer of 2009, in the midst of the debate about the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, a small item in …
Comfort care: “We always have something to give”
SMS (“Stanford Medical School”) Unplugged is a forum for students to chronicle their experiences in medical school. The student-penned entries appear on Scope once a …
"Stop skipping dessert:" A Stanford neurosurgeon and cancer patient discusses facing terminal illness
Updated 3-11-15: Paul Kalanithi passed away on March 9. *** Updated 10-23-14: Paul Kalanithi spoke about this topic on campus earlier this week; more on the event, …
No one wants to talk about dying, but we all need to
"Dying in America is harder than it has to be." That’s the headline of one of the stories published following the release of the Institute …
TV spot features a more humane approach to late-stage cancer care
Updated 8-4-14: The video is no longer posted on the Al Jazzera website, but the online story is still available. *** 7-30-14: Is it possible …
Uncommon hero: A young oncologist fights for more humane cancer care
When I interviewed Manali Patel, MD, a Stanford oncologist, for an article on improving poor-prognosis cancer care, she cited a shocking statistic: Less than a …
Atul Gawande on "letting go" at life's end
Medical innovations have enabled us to wring a few more days, or months, out of life for the terminally ill; and anyone who's lost a …