Dr. Geoff Dunn: The Father of Surgical Palliative Care

08/24/20 • 42 min

#017 - Join host Dr. Red Hoffman and cohost Dr. Pringl Miller as they interview Dr. Geoff Dunn, the father of the Surgical Palliative Care Movement. Geoff is a fourth generation surgeon, a second generation hospice medical director (his father was also both a surgeon and a hospice medical director!) and an artist. Along with Dr. Bob Milch, Geoff is responsible for starting the integration of the concept of palliative medicine into the work of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the largest surgical organization in the country. As he shares in this episode, at the ACS Clinical Congress in 1997, he was invited by Dr. Tom Krizek to address a large gathering of surgeons during a symposium focused on physician-assisted suicide. As he approached the microphone, Tom whispered to him, "You have ten minutes to change surgery... Don't mess it up!" Geoff took this to heart and over the next two decades he worked tirelessly to integrate palliative medicine into surgical practice through chairing the ACS Committee on Surgical Palliative Care, writing countless articles, editing numerous books, speaking at numerous conferences, and - perhaps most importantly - never preaching! As a lover of history, Geoff has tirelessly documented the history of the Surgical Palliative Care movement, most recently in a chapter of the Surgical Palliative Care textbook (link below). As a lover of art and literature, Geoff has often utilized in his quest to better explain palliative medicine to surgeons, most memorably by comparing the Family Conference to a surgical procedure in which we "Prepare, Do and Close." Despite all of his achievements, Geoff remains humble, heart-centered and human. Listen and enjoy learning the history of the Surgical Palliative Care Movement!
To read more by Geoff Dunn:
Surgical Palliative Care- Along with Anne Mosenthal, Geoff served as co-editor and also authored a chapter highlighting how surgeons have been involved in palliation since the beginning of the profession.
Surgical Clinics of North America- Geoff edited the 2011 edition focused on Surgical Palliative Care. The 2019 edition, edited by Pringl Miller, can be found here.
Surgical Palliative Care: A Resident's Guide- Geoff served as one of the co-editors of this extremely useful (and free) guide to providing palliative care to surgical patients.
In this article, Geoff discusses the history of surgical palliative care and the American College of Surgeons.
To learn more about the surgical palliative care community, visit us on twitter @surgpallcare.

Previous Episode

Dr. Rick Greene: Integrating Palliative Care into Surgical Oncology

#016 - Join host Dr. Red Hoffman as she interviews Dr. Rick Greene, a surgical oncologist and a champion of palliative care for surgical oncology patients. Rick currently serves as the medical director of the Cancer Data Registry at the Levine Cancer Institute in North Carolina. As a past president (and founding member) of SAGES, past president of the Southeastern Surgical Society, past chair of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, past chair of the American Joint Committee on Cancer and past Chair of Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center, Rick can certainly be described as accomplished. However, what is perhaps even more striking about Rick is how thoughtful and insightful he is, about both medicine and life. In this episode, he shares his early experiences as a young surgeon aboard the USS Nimitz and discusses the influence of beshart (a Yiddish word which means inevitable or preordained) in his life. Rick also offers his advice on how best to approach and talk about surgical complications. Lastly, he discusses how important it is for surgeons to plan for life after surgery and recounts the necessity of always reinventing oneself (Rick is a writer and a radio host!)
Articles discussed in the episode:
Patient Loss: Surgeons Describe How They Cope
The Joys of Creative Writing
Check out The Recovery Room, a podcast hosted by Dr. Greene and supported by the American College of Surgeons here.
To learn more about the surgical palliative care community, visit us on twitter @surgpallcare.

Next Episode

Dr. Nancy Glass: Palliative Care, Pediatrics and Anesthesia

#018 - Join host Dr. Red Hoffman as she interviews Dr. Nancy Glass, who worked as a professor of both Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine as well as the Director of Pediatric Pain Management at Texas Children's Hospital. She now is the Associate Medical Director of Houston Hospice. Nancy was able to seamlessly integrate her training in pediatrics, pediatric critical care, pain management, anesthesiology and hospice and palliative medicine into the care of the some of the sickest children in the country. She offers useful tips on how to speak to both sick children (and their parents) about death and dying and shares that children often know way more than we give them credit for. She also talks about how to discuss code status with patients who are undergoing surgery and about the importance of surgeon-anesthesiologist communication to help provide the best patient care. Lastly, she discusses her passion for narrative medicine and how it helps her to integrate her clinical experiences.
You can find Nancy's essay, What Did La Abuela See, here.
You can follow Nancy on Twitter @nancyglass1.
To learn more about the surgical palliative care community, visit us on twitter @surgpallcare.