Medical decision-making based on evidence and guidelines isn’t enough
How about putting the heart into healthcare, and having those hard conversations about what is really best for the individual and their families?
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Medical decisions and recommendations are made by humans, and it is important to understand that biases do exist.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Tan Kok Yang
Recently, I had the privilege of managing a young person dying of cancer. Over recent months, he had undergone multiple procedures and medical therapy. As the surgeon in charge, I sat down with him and advised him that it was time when the most important thing he had to do was to find peace and acceptance.
He thanked me for the honesty and the clarity that I had given him, which helped him better express his priorities. That clarity had become his pillar of strength. He described the time and conversation I had with him as an experience of “genuine concern and compassion”.
