Message from Dr. Taub
2010 was an excellent year for weaving the thread of Integrative Medicine through the fabric of care offered by SCHF in its effort to become the "Crown Jewel of Hope" for patients nearing the end of their lives. Integrative Medicine combines modern medicine with the timeless truth that we are like stardust hurtling through time and space on a spiritual pilgrimage back to God’s heart. It acknowledges wellness as the graceful dance of our body, mind and spirit in tune with each other.
An increasingly common phenomenon is occurring in physicians devoted to caring for dying patients; as a result of their innate desire to serve their patients, many doctors are experiencing stress, depression and professional burnout. Recently, medical journal articles have begun to refer to the phenomenon as "compassion fatigue." Anyone who has ever depended on a caring physician for compassionate end-of-life care, surely understands.
Fortunately, a growing body of research, shows that physicians using wellness strategies in caring for themselves are better able to care for their patients. As a result, in 2010 SCHF began sponsoring afternoon Voyages to Wellness for physicians, with the help of Ralph V. Clayman, M.D., Dean of the UC Irvine Medical School.
Voyages for UCI Medical School faculty and staff departed from Dana Point Harbor on the historic tallship, Curlew. Captain Bob Harrison set the sails of this gracious, wooden schooner to carry her passengers not just toward whales and dolphins, but also toward peace of body, mind and spirit. Dr. Clayman wrote after the first of several sailings: Voyage To Wellness works! After enjoying the sun and sea on the warming wooden deck of Curlew, we went home for a restful sleep, renewed by the dawn. We were all full of inner smiles and newfound inner calm...thanks for making it so.
In December, Dr. Taub was honored to present the vision and goals of SCHF during his Colloquium Lecture at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at the UCI Medical School. The presentation was entitled: “Voyage To Wellness: Stress Management In Today’s World.” The announcement of the event expresses the synergy that began developing between UCI Medical School, Integrative Medicine and SCHF in 2010:
The Southern California Hospice Foundation strives to deliver a breadth of resources to patients facing the final stages of life. As Director of Integrative Medicine, Dr. Taub seeks ways to help transform the traditional standard of "Hoping for a cure," to “Hoping for comfort and quality of life, and dignity with death.” He conducts “Voyages To Wellness” on Curlew, a historic tallship sailing from Dana Point, to help physicians combat professional stress and burnout--compassion fatigue.
Looking At Physicians In A New Way: Compassion Fatigue
I introduced Integrative Medicine to a standing committee of the National Academy of Sciences in 1980 in a presentation entitled, Integrative Medicine: A Biosocial and Psychospiritual Approach to Health and Wellness. Thus, by definition, Integrative Medicine must be as spiritual as it is scientific (or vice-versa, as scientific as it is spiritual). In other words, our health is too important to be left entirely up to science, but our health is also too important to not be scientific about!
I've always used capital first letters in spelling Integrative Medicine, because I envision it with the same purity of expression as Plato in his description of ideal forms such as Truth, Beauty, Love, or simply, "The Good." Thus, Plato ascribed the art and science of Medicine to the speech of God. And in this, my 50th year since entering medical school, I believe that although our health care system has become flawed, the nobility of Medicine remains.
Nowhere does the nobility of Medicine shine brighter than in the hospice movement and its dedicated people. Over the years, hospice has helped me rise above my personal despair to bid farewell to my father, my mother and my brother with dignity and love. This is why I'm volunteering, late in my career, to help advance the hospice movement.
The following article in the Journal of the American Medical Association is an example of Integrative Medicine. Everyone who has ever depended on a physician for skillful and compassionate end-of-life care will gain a deeper understanding of the stress and compassion fatigue they must invariably encounter. Please share this article with patients and their families and caregivers, as well as with caring physicians in all fields of Medicine. It's a moving story about professional burnout and pure compassion fatigue--along with good advice for supporting prevention and wellness.
On behalf of the Southern California Hospice Association I want to express my gratitude to the American Medical Association for extending the courtesy of providing special access to this article.
December 18, 2008
Dear Patients, Loved Ones, and Friends;
God gives each of us special gifts. Mine was to be a physician, and I'm honored to contribute back to society as the Director of Integrative Medicine for the Southern California Hospice Foundation.
Please re-visit soon for more news and information, or contact me at DrTaub@socalhospicefoundation.com so I can keep you up to date. In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season.
May God Bless All Of Us,
Edward A. Taub, M.D., F.A.A.P.
Director of Integrative Medicine,
Southern California Hospice Foundation