Observations
KAREN WYATT, MD
“
66 | ART OF DYING
JULIANNA MONTANO PHOTOGRAPHY
Today
everyone
has the
opportunity
to be more
informed
and better
prepared
to die.
I became a hospice volunteer after my father
committed suicide. I was a family practice
doctor struggling with grief and guilt over
his death. As a family practitioner, I had
treated depression and worked with suicidal
patients. The fact that I couldn't save my own
father was devastating. As a doctor, it caused
me to lose confidence in my practice. I had the
idea that if I volunteered for hospice, diving
headlong into death and dying, it would help
me find my way. The moment I made my first
house visit to a hospice patient, I knew that
this was the work I was meant to do. So I
switched from family practice to hospice care
as my full time work.