A different kind of conference
I was in Austin Texas recently for the American academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine (AAHPM) meetings. This was my first trip to this organizations meeting. This specialty takes care of chronically ill and dying patients. It was a very different sort of meeting for me. Many of the national meetings that I have attended over the years have been so focused on the molecular basis of cancer. Don’t get me wrong, this is important and interesting but it also seems to sometimes forget the patients. The care of patients on a day to day basis has very little to do with the biochemical pathways of the medicines we use. Yes, these pathways ultimately determine the actions, responses and the side effects of the medicines but the individual response of patients is personal. It is unique to each patient. These pathways don’t even come close to determining the reaction of the patient both mentally, spiritually or emotionally.
The AAHPM meetings were different because the majority of the talks, lectures and meetings were focus directly on the patient. There were sessions on how to listen and talk to patients. There were studies on pain control, insomnia, and shortness of breath. The research that is going on in palliative medicine is in its infancy. Palliative medicine is a new medical specialty and the people who work in this field of medicine are on the “cutting edge and uncharted water “. There is an excitement and a passion that is difficult to describe. Talk of spirituality was freely overheard. The emotions, stresses and thoughts of patients, their care givers, and the professionals that care for them were the highest priority.
I think that the doctors, nurses, social workers and ministers that work in this new and expending field of medicine understand the finality of life. They are not so concerned with the statistical difference in survival between two chemotherapy drugs. They understand that we have a finite amount of time on the world and how we live is much more important than how long we live. I can’t wait for next year’s meeting in Boston.
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Thanks for posting about your time at the AAHPM conference. It was good to see you there, and I just found this blog because someone at KCCC tipped me off to it.
It will be good to see you in Boston too and work with you some more here in Kansas City.
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