Pauline W. Chen (born 1964), [1] is a Taiwanese American surgeon, author, and New York Times columnist. She is known for her 2007 book Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality [2] as well as her online column "Doctor and Patient". She is also the recipient of numerous awards including the UCLA Outstanding Physician of the Year Award in 1999 [3] [4] and the George Longstreth Humanness Award at Yale for most exemplifying empathy, kindness, and care in an age of advancing technology.
Her parents are immigrants from Taiwan. [5]
Chen graduated from The Loomis Chaffee School, then attended Harvard University and the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She completed her general surgical training at Yale University, the National Cancer Institute, and UCLA. She was appointed faculty at UCLA, specializing in liver and kidney transplants and the treatment of cancer.[ citation needed ]
Through her practice as a transplant surgeon and her experiences of dealing with terminally ill patients, Dr. Chen came to understand that, commonly, doctors consider a patient's death as a sign of imperfect care and thus a personal failure. And doctors hate to fail. Doctors strive to combat their patients’ sicknesses, but if the battle starts to become a losing one then doctors do not prepare their patients for inevitable death. Instead, the battle for life and denial of death continues with the frequent result that many patients die in a hospital's Intensive Care Unit while undergoing painful treatment rather than at home with pain-management and in peace. Dr. Chen wants to change this practice. [6]
General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland. General surgeons also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft tissue, trauma, peripheral artery disease and hernias and perform endoscopic as such as gastroscopy, colonoscopy and laparoscopic procedures.
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin. It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical doctor who manages diseases related to skin, hair, nails, and some cosmetic problems.
A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR), also known as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR), no code or allow natural death, is a medical order, written or oral depending on the jurisdiction, indicating that a person should not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if that person's heart stops beating. Sometimes these decisions and the relevant documents also encompass decisions around other critical or life-prolonging medical interventions. The legal status and processes surrounding DNR orders vary in different polities. Most commonly, the order is placed by a physician based on a combination of medical judgement and patient involvement.
Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced heart disease than for injury. In popular use, it indicates a disease that will progress until death with near absolute certainty, regardless of treatment. A patient who has such an illness may be referred to as a terminal patient, terminally ill or simply as being terminal. There is no standardized life expectancy for a patient to be considered terminal, although it is generally months or less. Life expectancy for terminal patients is a rough estimate given by the physician based on previous data and does not always reflect true longevity. An illness which is lifelong but not fatal is a chronic condition.
Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it was one of the first hospitals in the United States to use a standard fee schedule and favor private or semi-private rooms over large wards. It was the first hospital in the country to form a closed, salaried medical staff. As founder Henry Ford viewed tobacco as being unhealthy, the hospital was one of the first in the United States to institute a total ban on smoking. Henry Ford Hospital is staffed by the Henry Ford Medical Group, one of the nation's largest and oldest group practices with 1,200 physicians in more than 40 specialties.
"The Mistake" is the eighth episode of the second season of House, which premiered on Fox on November 29, 2005. The episode is told in flashbacks when the hospital and Chase's career is on the line.
Nataline Mary Sarkisyan was an American teenager with recurrent leukemia. Her case became part of the health care reform debate in the United States in 2007 when Cigna HealthCare denied coverage for a liver transplant operation. The company later reversed its decision after a great deal of media attention to her story, but Sarkisyan died hours later.
Robert Peter Gale is an American physician and medical researcher. He is known for research in leukemia and other bone marrow disorders.
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and more than 300 locations throughout the New York City Region and Florida, including six inpatient facilities: Tisch Hospital; Kimmel Pavilion; NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital; Hassenfeld Children's Hospital; NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn; and NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island. It is also home to Rusk Rehabilitation. NYU Langone Health is one of the largest healthcare systems in the Northeast, with more than 49,000 employees.
Mandi Jocelyn Schwartz was a Canadian ice hockey player with the Yale Bulldogs. She was a three time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Hockey All-Academic, and played 73 consecutive games with the team before being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 2008. Prior to joining Yale University, Schwartz had played minor hockey for Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. Her younger brother, Jaden currently plays for the Seattle Kraken in the National Hockey League.
Ketayun Ardeshir Dinshaw FRCR was a prominent personality in the field of Indian medicine and played a significant role in the evolution of modern cancer care in India, and the development of effective radiation therapy. In 2001, the President of India conferred on her the Padma Shri. A prominent news channel has described her as: “The ultimate hope and the last possible post to cling onto for the cancer-struck in India”. Over a thirty-year period, Dinshaw revolutionised cancer medicine in India, refining multi-modal treatments as the exception rather than the rule.
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality is a 2007 book written by surgeon and liver specialist Pauline Chen. The Los Angeles Times described the main goal of the book as "to hold herself and fellow physicians accountable for providing better end-of-life care." She argues that "medical schools can and should do a much better job of preparing doctors to care for the dying."
Ko Wen-je is a Taiwanese politician and physician who served as the mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022. He has been the chairman of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) since founding it in 2019.
When Breath Becomes Air is a non-fiction autobiographical book written by American neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi. It is a memoir about his life and battling stage IV metastatic lung cancer. It was posthumously published by Random House on January 12, 2016.
Joann G. Elmore is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, professor of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Director of the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program, the endowed chair in Health Care Delivery for The Rosalind and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, and a practicing physician . She publishes studies on diagnostic accuracy of cancer screening and medical tests in addition to AI/machine learning, using computer-aided tools to aid in the early detection process of high-risk cancers Previously, she held faculty and leadership positions at the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Research Center, Group Health Research Institute, Yale University and was the Associate Director and member of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Yale and University of Washington. Elmore received her medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine, residency training in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, with advanced epidemiology training from the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health and the RWJF Clinical Scholars Program. In addition, she was a RWJF generalist physician faculty scholar. Elmore is board certified in internal medicine and serves on many national and international committees. She is Editor in Chief for Adult Primary Care at Up-To-Date and enjoys seeing patients as a primary care internist and teaching clinical medicine to students and residents.
Margaret Ruth McCorkle FAAN, FAPOS was an American nurse, oncology researcher, and educator. She was the Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing at the Yale School of Nursing.
Chen Chao-long is a Taiwanese transplant surgeon.
Chuang Shu-chi was the first licensed female practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan.
Alice Chen is an American physician who is an assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She has previously been a Hauser Visiting Leader at Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership and assistant clinical professor position at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Chen was a founding member and former director of the nonprofit organization Doctors for America.
Patricia Anne Ganz is an American medical oncologist. She is a professor of health policy and management in the Fielding School of Public Health and a professor of medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In 2007, she was elected to the Institute of Medicine.