He Told a Patient They Were Dying and Got This Reply – Dr. Neil Farber

Delivering bad news is one of the hardest parts of being a doctor. Dr. Neil Farber shares a moment with a patient that surprised him and what it taught him about caring for people. In this conversation, Dr. Farber reflects on delivering bad news, the communication skills doctors need, and what patients may be up against when time with a physician is limited. We also talk about physician burnout, administrative burden, patient access, and how the healthcare system shapes the doctor-patient relationship. ABOUT GUEST Dr. Neil Farber is professor emeritus of general internal medicine at the University of California San Diego and author of “Treating a Broken System: A Physician’s Cure for the Healthcare Crisis” (https://neiljfarber.com/). Subscribe to Uncomfy for more conversations about the moments we’d rather avoid and what we can learn by staying with them. CHAPTERS (0:00) Intro (0:34) Meet Dr Neil Farber (1:26) First Bad News Lesson (2:33) The Unexpected Response (3:42) SPIKES Protocol Explained (6:15) When You Can’t Fix It (7:13) Terry’s Diagnosis Story (10:46) Fixing a Broken System (12:45) Solutions for Burnout (13:40) What Patients Can Do (14:41) Wrap Up and Credits (15:53) New Show, “Dispatches from the Divide" #PhysicianBurnout #HealthcareSystem #DoctorPatientCommunication #PatientCare #PatientAdvocacy #HealthcareCrisis #MedicalCommunication #PriorAuthorization #DoctorPatientRelationship #Uncomfy