On the Art of Compassion

After spending the weekend in Michigan with my family, I found myself heading westbound on I-94 with NPR as my co-pilot.  Although NPR provides the soundtrack to my morning and evening commutes (short as they may be), I rarely listen for several hours on end.  This time, it was a pleasure to do so. 

As I approached the Chicago skyline, a program I'd not heard of called "To The Best Of Our Knowledge," produced by PRI (Public Radio International) came on.  This episode was on "Medicine and Compassion," and I was instantly engaged.  Regrettably, there is no transcript of the hour-long program, though you are offered both streaming and download options to listen to the mp3 files of each of the five segments separately should you be pressed for time.  I thought each voice of the program brought a new dimension to the theme of compassionate medicine.  I especially encourage my medically-minded friends to check it out.  I know your schedules are full and free time is lacking, but listen to a segment while you get ready in the morning or while you brush your teeth before bed.  While the stories from one of the Dali Lama's physicians on the health benefits of meditation, and the Madison, Wisconsin doctor's story of learning compassion -- a skill which cannot be taught in an undergraduate or medical school classroom, though I'm confident that a majority of medical school applications contain the word at least once -- are poignant and thought-provoking, there was a particularly important perspective told by one contributor who brought up the toll that constant compassion for others can have on a physician's emotional well-being.  I do not think this phenomenon is necessarily limited to physicians -- but all those working in the health care field, caring for others, need also to care for themselves.  

Check it out; if you're at all interested by what I have to write in this little corner of the Internet, I think you'll enjoy it.  (And, as my mom would remind me, it's probably more stimulating than spending an hour watching television.)