Atul Gawande's book, Being Mortal should be required reading, not just for medical students, but for everyone. This book was so enlightening, and so important, I am so glad I read it. It was not always easy to read, the subject matter is not pretty and fun, but it is a reality we will all have to face at one time. I feel that going into it with knowledge and understanding, rather than being blindsided is a much better way to go about it. The book goes into the history of nursing homes, assisted living, hospice, and how we have become a country that has gone away from taking care of our elderly at home. Gawande goes into a number of his patients with terminal illnesses and their treatment, and the conversations to have when it is the end. He also discusses his father and the options he was given when he was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. He talks about the different approaches doctors can take in relating to their patients, and the how important it is for the elderly to have choices right up until the end. Their quality of life is of the utmost importance, and the best thing you can do is to find out, what that means for each individual person. What are they willing to live with/without, before it is too late to have that conversation. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I also recommend his other books; Better, A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, The Checklist Manifesto, and Complications, A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Here is a link to an interview with Dr. Gawande and at the end of the interview is the documentary movie that Frontline did on the book Being Mortal:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/dr-atul-gawande-hope-is-not-a-plan-when-doctors-patients-talk-death/
www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/dr-atul-gawande-hope-is-not-a-plan-when-doctors-patients-talk-death/