Doctors Die Differently

Like everyone else, medical doctors don’t want to die. But when they know that their situation is hopeless, even though they have access to the most advanced tests and treatments, most doctors resign themselves to their fate and pass away as simply and painlessly as possible. They know enough to forgo the suffering of needless chemotherapy and multiple tubes and wires of life support. They use a living will and make their wishes known to their family. They might use a more gentle approach, as offered by alternative medicine. Most doctors do less for themselves than they prescribe for their patients who are in a terminal state. See Utne.com May-June issue, pp.68-69