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HARDtalk: Surgeon and Writer - Atul Gawande

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Atul Gawande - Surgeon and Writer

05/11/2014 GMT

Surgeon and Writer - Atul Gawande

BBC World Service - HARDtalk, Surgeon and Writer - Atul Gawande

How should doctors think and talk about death?

When a dying person asks their doctor if he or she can do anything to help, is it easier for the doctor to provide a false hope than have a difficult conversation about how best to manage their last days? Hardtalk speaks to Atul Gawande, who wants to change the way doctors think - and talk - about death. It is a subject he covers in the BBC's annual Reith Lectures this year. He says doctors are good at addressing specific individual problems or diseases, but argues that the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life - all the way to the very end.

(Photo: Atul Gawande. Credit: Tim Llewellyn/BBC)

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