{"id":1991,"date":"2023-08-03T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T08:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2023-07-21T09:34:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T09:34:04","slug":"do-you-have-range","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/2023\/08\/03\/do-you-have-range\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you have range?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following was recorded directly from an acting seminar in North Wales on how to act like a specialist doctor. The text has been presented in an easy to read format<\/em>:<\/p>\n

In the latest of our \u2018how to\u2019 seminars we will be covering the specialty of palliative medicine. This strange quirk of a specialty is rarely seen on the screen as dying is generally only popular viewing when it\u2019s either not shown or violent. However, contrary to popular expectations most dying IRL (in real life), occurs quietly and after a prolonged illness. So as medical dramas continue to rise in popularity it is only a matter of time before palliative care gets its own Dr House, Dr Hospice maybe?<\/p>\n

Now the key things you need to know about palliative medicine are that they hate it if you don\u2019t say die, death or dying. So try and say one of these as often as possible. They are often also very apologetic, so bear this in mind. Additionally they like to touch their patients.<\/p>\n

As with all of our seminars we will now give a demonstration. John will play the part of a 95 year old patient also called John and Janet will play the part of the Palliative doctor.<\/p>\n

John:<\/strong> Doctor-tell me straight, what\u2019s happening?<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong>\u00a0Head tilt at 10<\/em>%: what do you think is happening, John?<\/p>\n

John:<\/strong>\u00a0l<\/em>ooks\u00a0sad<\/em>: I feel like I\u2019m reaching the end.<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong>\u00a0reaches out and starts patting John\u2019s leg.\u00a0<\/em>Do you mean you feel like you\u2019re dying, John?<\/p>\n

John:<\/strong>\u00a0stuttering<\/em>– I, I didn\u2019t expect this am I dying? I\u2019m so young, I thought I had more time to travel and do more.<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong>\u00a0head tilt now at 20%<\/em>: John, I\u2019m so sorry. I noticed that you used the same language that I reflected- dying. Sometimes we are the best judge of when we are going to die, be dead, no longer alive. Do you think that this is what is happening, John?<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong>\u00a0now aggressively patting John\u2019s leg.<\/em><\/p>\n

John:<\/strong> I guess I have had cancer and heart failure for ten years, it just feels so sudden, is all. I think I am, aren\u2019t I? Dying I mean.<\/p>\n

John:<\/strong>\u00a0starts crying.<\/em><\/p>\n

Janet<\/strong>:<\/strong> now rubbing John\u2019s leg, head tilt at 40%.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Janet<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>I am really sorry John, this must be very sad and I can see your shock at the news.<\/p>\n

John<\/strong>:<\/strong> Sighs-\u00a0<\/em>you are right, it is a shock but I appreciate your honesty.<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong> All part of the job John, and I\u2019m truly sorry that you\u2019re dying and that we\u2019ve had to have this conversation.<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong>\u00a0Stands and gently pats John\u2019s cheek before giving his hair an affectionate tousle.<\/em><\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong> Good bye John, I\u2019m truly sorry that I\u2019ve had to give you this news. I probably won\u2019t see you again-<\/p>\n

John<\/strong>:<\/strong> Interrupts-\u00a0<\/em>because I\u2019ll be dead?<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong> yes, probably, I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n

Janet:<\/strong> sorry. EXIT scene.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think we can all agree that was a masterful moment of acting from both John and Janet and now we all know how to act like a palliative medicine doctor for TV.<\/p>\n

Next week: geriatricians- expect to be asked where you live and how to count the months backwards a lot!<\/p>\n

Also in the series: cardiologists- we don\u2019t just do long tubes, sometimes we use tiny amounts of electricity too!<\/p>\n

Gastroenterologists- top and bottom doctors but hopefully not at the same time!<\/p>\n

Neurologists- we don\u2019t understand this either!<\/p>\n

And more\u2026.<\/p>\n

Also by this author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid I have to go now<\/a><\/p>\n

People aren\u2019t avocados<\/a><\/p>\n

The Palliative Times<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter\u2019s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 The following was recorded directly from an acting seminar in North Wales on how to act like a specialist doctor. The text has been presented in an easy to read format: […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2855],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palliative-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}