Most of us enter this profession wishing to help people, to send our patients out into the world healthy and free of pain. However, there come inevitable times in our careers when we witness firsthand that this is not always possible, that for many people there simply is no cure and the best we can do is alleviate pain and lessen their suffering. I can still remember when I was a wide-eyed medical student faced with a cancer patient suffering from excruciatingly painful bone metastases. We were all sparing with our dosages, lest we run the risk of over-prescribing pain meds, until a wise attending counseled us that when dealing with terminally ill patients it's okay "not to skimp." I learned that day the importance of being able to view each patient as a unique and complete person with distinct needs based on a multitude of factors and to take these factors into consideration when prescribing medication.
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