Most terminally ill doctors would AVOID aggressive treatments like chemotherapy

A new study has found that given the option, most doctors would turn down aggressive treatment if they were terminally ill, choosing instead a ‘do not resuscitate’ order. And yet, Stanford University School of Medicine found that they tend to favor aggressive, life-prolonging (for some) treatment for their patients who face the same prognosis.

It seems that for far too long, doctors’ have been trained and encouraged to “do”, not to “talk”. And talking to their patients would reveal, according to new studies, that many would prefer to die at home, without life-prolonging interventions.

From the article:

“The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found 88.3 per cent of doctors would choose ‘do not resuscitate’ orders for themselves and argued the reason behind this disparity and how patients are treated needed to be better understood. The study involved 1,081 doctors who in 2013 completed a web-based advanced directive form and a 14-item advance directive attitude survey at Stanford Hospital & Clinics and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. It also involved 790 doctors from Arkansas who were asked the same 14 survey questions – but did not complete an advance directive form – in a 1989 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.”

What the study found was how little doctors’ attitudes toward advance directives (documents that patients use to indicate end-of-life care preferences) had changed in 25 years. While radiologists, surgeons, orthopedists and radiation oncologists were less likely to discuss these directives, medics, pediatricians, gynecologists and those in rehab had more favorable attitudes toward them. This simply means that more education is needed. Doctors need to have the freedom to talk to their patients, not hurry them along to get to the next one. They need to know that their patients personal desires are valid and be taught to listen.

I’m so thankful for all the medical professionals I work with because they listen to me and they talk to me- not at me. Never be afraid to choose someone who will walk along side you in your care. That’s supposed to be their job.

Source: Daily Mail

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