Sep 26, 2022
I was glad that I was too tired to speak at the close of the day, because by listening, I learned a lesson in humility. Madam A’s family was more knowledgeable about her than we were, treating her as a person who had hopes just like the rest of us, despite being bedbound.
Norshima Nashi, a consultant in the Division of Advanced Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the National University Health System in Singapore, reflects on the importance of preserving hope for patients, no matter how serious the situation is.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.