There are few books I push hard for already busy premedical students, but Katy Butlers Knocking on Heavens Door is one of them. For years I have been telling students, if I ran the world, all premedical students would volunteer in hospices so they would understand that death is part of life and that they are not bad physicians if patients die. When I read the medical school application essays of my students, humanism and altruism are there, but they can be easily thwarted by cynicism or fear of malpractice suits or even a misguided desire to help as students move on in their journeys to become healers. Katy Butlers book provides concrete examples of how much pain is inflicted on patients and their families by prolonging death when it is inevitable and students need to distinguish this perpetuation of anguish from compassion. I have recommended this book to all my fellow preprofessional health advisors and their students. Barbara Huntington, Director Preprofessional Health Advising Office San Diego State University San Diego, California Barbara Huntington has been a premedical advisor for 17 years and has been on the board of the National Association of Advisors to the Health Professions. She is the author (with Linda Masse) of : Writing about Me: A step by step method to creating a powerful personal statement for schools of medicine, dentistry, chiropractic, pharmacy, PA, optometry, podiatry, veterinary medicine. amazon/Writing-about-statement-chiropractic-veterinary/dp/0744232627
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 15:35:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015