Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters In The End, By Atul Gawande: Analysis

The Author Atul Gawande is a surgeon, staff writer for The New Yorker and a professor at the Harvard Medical School. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End was an inspiring book that unwrap people’s mind for discussion and question our current practice of medicine and care. It is easy for audiences of all ages to relate to this book even if the young do not think about the process of death. It has a comprehensive coverage of medical sociology, where it deliberates on the evolution, controversial conversation of medicine and issues after medicine becomes impotent to people’s health. Gawande uses recounts of people (patients) and his own reflections on the stories to illustrate the dilemmas of the two facet of medicine: to attempt
Even though we have palliative care and assisted living for the frail and old, unpreparedness means that the healthcare professionals and society, in general, have not thought and discussed much about the process of dying and what it entails. Because of this, patients are living in institutions that do not address any goals of the patient, simply because the family is incapacitated to care for them anymore. With industrialization, elderly is at least able to escape from the fate of death and this has brought about fear and resentment towards these homes. They see these homes as odious and they see themselves as someone who was abandoned. I was astonished that someone finally confronted the existent issues of how institutionalized our care have
Beyond that, it provides enlightenment in times when medicine is inept. If I must be scrupulous I hope that the book postulates on the future directions on aging and provide concrete examples of how society can work towards it, perhaps this issue can be recognized as a worldwide initiative or mark advance medical directives as compulsory. As Gawande suggests, we need to take a courageous stance to seek the truth in our medical situation and to be critical of what is significant in our lives. Most crucially, what should be done to instill the philosophy of assisted care so that people can see such form of care in a positive light, especially in Asia countries. With that, it could lessen the negative connotations on how the elders perceive themselves in the assisted facilities. It is significantly important for professionals to be a better listener so they can understand patient’s