Surgical Pause
The Fifth Annual Symposium for Research in Surgical Palliative Care
This year’s symposium coincided with the 20th anniversary of the first meeting of the Surgical Palliative Care Task Force, which first convened in Chicago, on Sept. 10, 2001.
DECEMBER 12, 2021
The Limits of Resilience
A little more than one year ago, I walked into the surgeons’ lounge after an early morning case. As I sat down to dictate my notes, I heard a colleague remark, “There’s an active shooter in the hospital.”
FEBRUARY 16, 2021
The Dance of Donation
“Code trauma. ETA 5 min.” The message flashed across my pager on a Wednesday during morning rounds. As I hustled downstairs to the trauma bay, I called ahead and asked, “What’s coming?” “Mid-30s. Hanging. Ten minutes of CPR with ROSC. Intubated on the scene. Pupils fixed and dilated.”
NOVEMBER 25, 2020
The Final Chapter
The first time I saw a death certificate, I was 19 years old. The cause of death was listed as “laceration of the trachea and esophagus, also laceration of heart and lungs with fractures and bleeding caused by two gun shots in the neck and chest.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
Feet Firmly on the Ground: COVID-19
I awoke with a jolt and fumbled around for my phone to check the time: 1:45 a.m. I was once again wide awake, four hours past falling into yet another restless, exhausted sleep and three hours from my morning alarm.
MAY 13, 2020
