Medical Ethics and the Neurosurgeon: Pt 2 (feat. Sunit Das)

In the second part of this two-part episode, Dr. Sunit Das focuses on a N.Y. Times article by a fellow neurosurgeon (Dr. Joseph Stern of Greensboro, N.C.) entitled "Moral Distress in Neurosurgery" to closely examine the unique ethical dilemmas encountered by neurosurgeons, who often interact with patients at their most vulnerable, while being tasked with making the most difficult decisions about their patients' lives. Dr. Das stresses the need for physicians in general, and neurosurgeons in particular, to seek to understand their patients' values and ethical outlooks, by asking "if time were short, what would be important to you?"