Watch and listen and let these patients teach you.
William Carlos Williams, M.D. (1912-1963) Medical doctor, poet,
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
“One thing I’ve learned over time in caring for patients is that the most essential part is really paying attention to their words and listening to their phrasing. Patients don’t describe their illnesses as illnesses; they describe them as stories. And as the disease process progresses, the stories get more complicated, but they’re still stories. What I learned from William Carlos Williams was that if you watch and listen and let those patients teach you, you’re entering their stories and becoming part of their lives, especially at the end of life. For me, that’s an essential part of what I do.”
Lonny Shavelson, M.D., author of Medical Aid In Dying:
A Guide For Patients And Their Supporters.
