A doctor’s realization: Not every patient is better off accepting death.

As a palliative medicine specialist who often deals with patients nearing the end of life, I have been carefully trained in the art of delivering bad news. The conversations require a mix of compassion and firmness. They are always difficult and often heartbreaking, but they are necessary to prepare patients and to help them face the end. At least that’s what we’re taught in our training; however, I have since learned that not every patient is better off accepting death.