A Palliative Doctor's Spiritual Path
Life, Death & The Space Between with Dr. Amy Robbins
Dr. Amy Robbins
4.8 • 582 Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this conversation, I talk with Dr. Bob McCauley, a pediatric palliative care doctor and Episcopal priest. We explore the profound space where medicine meets the soul, discussing how he supports families through unthinkable journeys, the unexpected ways these children heal him, and what his work teaches us all about courage, presence, and living a meaningful life.
00:00 Introduction: A Meaningful Coincidence
02:40 What is Pediatric Palliative Care?
06:48 How Pediatric Care Differs from Adult Care
09:20 The Affordable Care Act's Compassionate Shift
11:47 A Day in the Life: The Palliative Care Process
19:46 The Emotional Impact & "Selfishness" of the Work
23:44 How Sick Kids Healed a Doctor's Soul
28:00 How This Work Transforms How You Live
33:47 The Story of Benjamin: A Case in Ethics & Faith
41:05 The Role of Faith and Doubt in Medicine
44:01 Spiritual Experiences at the End of Life
47:01 How to Find Help & Bob's Book
Learn more about Bob:
· Book: Because I Knew You - available at local bookstores and online retailers
· Proceeds support pediatric palliative care at OHSU and Darkness to Light.
· Website: becauseiknewyou.com
· Resource for families: palliativedoctors.org
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Life, Death & the Space Between Dr. Amy Robbins
Exploring life, death, consciousness and what it all means.
Put your preconceived notions aside as we explore life, death, consciousness and what it all means on Life, Death & the Space Between.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Dr. Amy Robbins and welcome to life, death, and the space between. |
| 0:05.7 | One of the things that has been fascinating to me most recently is what podcasts I'm recording |
| 0:13.1 | on a particular day and how those podcasts are showing up. So you won't, you don't get to see this on your end because obviously the podcasts |
| 0:23.2 | are a week apart. And typically I break up different themes. So you're not listening to the same |
| 0:27.7 | type of podcast over and over again. And I'm really purposeful and how I curate the episodes |
| 0:33.1 | that I'm talking about and making sure that I'm bringing in new topics at all times. |
| 0:37.9 | So this was really curious to me. |
| 0:40.1 | You've already heard my podcast with Tasha Faruqi, who talked about her medically complex |
| 0:47.7 | child and the palliative care that she has been receiving. |
| 0:51.8 | But on the same day I recorded that episode, I also had a recording with |
| 0:55.5 | another palliative care doctor who we're going to be talking with today. When I send out these |
| 0:59.3 | podcast signups, it's completely random. There's no rhyme or reason to who's going to sign up when, |
| 1:05.5 | how I go through everything, and determine who can be on the podcast. So this is starting to happen to me more and more, |
| 1:13.7 | and I'm really paying attention to what it means and how to make sense of it. But all of that to |
| 1:19.6 | say that while you are not hearing these back-to-back podcasts, today's podcast was recorded on the same |
| 1:25.7 | day I talked with Tasha about her daughter and her |
| 1:28.8 | palliative care. And today I'm talking with Dr. Bob McCauley, who is a pediatric palliative |
| 1:36.8 | doctor. So not only palliative care, but pediatric palliative care, which is different than anything |
| 1:43.0 | that I have ever talked about on the show before. |
| 1:45.9 | This is actually, it might sound like it's going to be a really heavy episode, but it is |
| 1:51.5 | actually a very uplifting episode. It's an informative episode. If there is someone you know out |
| 1:56.7 | there who has a child who is struggling with either a terminal illness or a time life limiting |
... |
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