By Timothy J. Moynihan, MD
Co-Chair, 2016 Death Cafe Session, Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium

Caring for cancer patients with advanced, symptomatic disease is one of the most rewarding and most challenging parts of any oncology practice. Clinicians who care for these patients invest their hearts, souls, and minds to offer the utmost in care to patients and their families who are experiencing the most arduous journey they are likely to ever face. The stresses that are experienced by the clinician in caring for these patients and families can take a toll on even the most seasoned of caregivers.

For the third year in a row, the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium will offer a Death Cafe experience. This is a unique time to have a close and personal interaction with your peers and review what stresses and challenges you face when caring for patients dealing with mortality. The Death Cafe asks you to openly and freely explore in a safe and caring environment your own experiences with caring for patients with advanced cancer, and tries to put this into a context to get each individual to explore what they find meaningful about these interactions, and how you would want to be treated if you were in a similar circumstance. How would you direct your care team to proceed if you were seriously ill? By dealing with this on a personal level, you can gain a better perspective to the work you do when dealing with patients with cancer nearing the end of life.

Feedback from our prior sessions has been uniformly positive, with a great energy and sense of renewed propose experienced by those in attendance. Please join us for some cookies and wine on Friday, September 9, at 5:15 PM  in Yerba Buena Ballroom, Salon 6, Lower B2 Level.

Dr. Moynihan is Chair of the Inpatient Medical Oncology Program, Chair of the Brain Tumor Clinic, and the hospice medical director at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. His major focus of research is symptom management, palliative care, and end-of-life care.