The Surgical Palliative Care Podcast
As one of just 80 U.S. surgeons currently board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Dr. Red created The Surgical Palliative Care Podcast to showcase the founders and the leaders of the surgical palliative care movement. Tune in to hear more about the rich history of the profession, to stay up to date on the latest research and to learn how to integrate palliative care into your practice. Hosted by Dr. Red and a variety of co-hosts, The Surgical Palliative Care Podcast aims to educate, foster community and provide mentorship to all those interested in making certain that all surgical and trauma patients receive the excellent treatment they deserve.
Episode 9: Dr. Ira Byock: National Leader in Palliative Care
Join host Dr. Red Hoffman as she interviews Dr. Ira Byock, nationally known author and speaker and the founder and chief medical officer of the Institute for Human Caring at Providence St. Joseph in Southern California. Ira served as the president of the American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine as well as the Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Promoting Excellence in End of Life Care, under which the Surgeons Palliative Care task force (now the Committee on Surgical Palliative Care) was created within the American College of Surgeons. For those interested in the history of surgical palliative care, Ira is also known as the man who introduced surgeons Dr. Robert Milch to Dr. Geoffrey Dunn (both men went on to become leaders in the field of surgical palliative care). Ira shares that seeing how poorly patients at the end of life were treated in his training hospital led him to develop a hospice program while still a resident physician. He discusses that illness is fundamentally a personal issue (rather than a medical issue) and that by acknowledging this, surgeons can do their part in making certain that patients get the best care possible. He is thoughtful, inspiring, generous with both his time and his experience, and a pure joy to talk to!
To learn more about Dr. Byock:
Dr. Byock’s books include:
- The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life
- Dying Well: Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life
- The Four Things That Matter Most
To learn more about the Surgeons Palliative Care Workgroup (including links to over two dozen free PDFs written about surgical palliative care):
To learn more about the Surgical Palliative Care community:
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