That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour by Sunita Puri

At the end of her training in internal medicine, Dr Puri was doubting the professional choice she had made, questioning if medicine was really what she wanted to do with her life. At the suggestion of a colleague, Dr Puri applied for a position in the palliative care department. She had found her medical passion.

At that time, the rest of the medical community, as well as the general public, did not completely understand the role of palliative care and how it interacted with other medical specialties and their patients’ needs. The burgeoning awareness and interest in “eleventh hour” choices eventually resulted in palliative care physicians working with multiple medical departments within the hospital, as well as hospice and social welfare agencies. Eventually, Dr Puri succeeded in including palliative care in the medical school curriculum.

There is now available a multi-disciplinary approach including multiple professions to help all of us discuss and finalize our personal goals forour end of life experience.

Sunita Puri is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California and medical director of palliative medicine at the Keck Hospital and Norris Cancer Center.

-Susan Morin