Reflection of Atul Gawande’s book, ‘Being Mortal’

Maliha Shakir


Medicine. The profession that has triumphed in historic times, in modern times revolutionizing the dangers of childbirth, injury and disease from afflicting to manageable. My experiences in healthcare have shown this to be true and is further evidenced by details embedded throughout Gawande's book. Despite this, an element of conflict zooms in on the unavoidable reality of physiological decline; aging and death. Through eye-opening truths and realities of Gawande’s patients and family, Gawande unveiled the suffering this turbulence has produced. The hardship in discussing patients’ worries about death, doctors often find themselves falling back on false hopes and beliefs that shorten lives instead of improving them. Gawande has bravely showed us the exerting struggles of his profession, representing the similar struggles of many other doctors.

Woven throughout this book is his examination of the profession’s restrictions and cruel failures. Many of us, doctors or not, go through a similar reckoning at some point in life, as we move from the abstract to the concrete and are forced to match our dreams with reality. In medicine, it feels particularly acute, given we deal with matters of life and death, and problems that get at the very heart of the human condition. The mistakes made, the heartbreak of death, despite being difficult, makes us stronger not just as doctors but as humans.

Experiencing Gawande’s line of thought has taught me that it is in fact empathy for our patients that drives the quest for motivation and generates a more resilient and determined physician. I have seen that Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life - this is why I want to be a doctor. Gawande has intensified my passion and motivation for this profession, denoting it is about how we overcome these hardships and deaths and how actually quality will always matter; quality of life, quality of care. This is what we’re all striving for; in our careers, in our relationships, in our art, in our health, in every area of our lives. I want to be a doctor because it is the best and highest pursuit of a life’s work for someone who loves solving problems, relating to and being encompassed by stories of humanity, and most importantly providing quality.

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