A Space for Mystery | Elisha Waldman, MD

The Doctor's Art

Henry Bair and Tyler Johnson

Medicine, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Philosophy

5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2023

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Matters of faith and spirituality are seldom openly discussed in medicine. But for our guest in this episode, pediatric palliative care doctor Elisha Waldman, MD, these issues are a daily fixture of his work. Dr. Waldman is former associate chief of the Division of Pediatric Palliative Care at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and former medical director of pediatric palliative care at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is the author of the memoir This Narrow Space, in which he describes his seven years working as a pediatric oncologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel, while grappling with the ethical and political complexities that came with treating his Muslim, Jewish, and Christian patients. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Waldman discusses his formative religious upbringing, delves deep into what it means to be present with patients in moments of suffering and existential anguish, and examines what his experiences have taught him about the enigmas of life, death, faith, and identity.

In this episode, you will hear about:

How Dr. Waldman’s early interest in religious studies influenced his pursuit of a career caring for children with cancer - 2:12
Dr. Waldman’s religious upbringing as the son of a conservative Jewish rabbi - 7:00
A discussion of spiritual care in medicine and what it means to be a “spiritual generalist” versus a “spiritual specialist” - 13:49
Reflections on what brought Dr. Waldman to Jerusalem and what it was like to practice medicine in such a diverse and politically complex city - 23:01
How Dr. Waldman finds the emotional fortitude to continue giving care and comfort to children who are seriously ill - 26:11
A discussion of powerful and beautiful moments in accompanying patients through suffering - 33:40
How pain differs from suffering and what physicians can do once they recognize that difference - 48:13
Dr. Waldman’s advice to young clinicians on being present and curious with patients - 57:25

Dr. Elisha Waldman is the author of This Narrow Space: A Pediatric Oncologist, His Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Patients, and a Hospital in Jerusalem.

Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Henry Bear.
0:03.0	And I'm Tyler Johnson.
0:05.0	And you're listening to The Doctors Art, a podcast that explores meaning in medicine.
0:09.0	Throughout our medical training and career, we have pondered.
0:13.2	What makes medicine meaningful?
0:15.1	Can a stronger understanding of this meaning
0:17.2	create better doctors?
0:18.8	How can we build health care institutions
0:20.6	that nurture the doctor-patient connection.
0:23.0	What can we learn about the human condition
0:25.0	from accompanying our patients in times of suffering?
0:28.0	In seeking answers to these questions,
0:30.0	we meet with deep thinkers working across health care, from doctors and nurses to patients and health care executives, those who have collected a career's worth of hard-earned wisdom.
0:40.0	Probing the moral heart that beats at the core of medicine, we will hear stories that are by turns heart-breaking, amusing, inspiring, challenging, and enlightening.
0:49.0	We welcome anyone curious about why doctors do what they do.
0:53.0	Join us as we think out loud about what illness and healing can teach us about some of life's biggest questions. Matters of faith and
1:04.8	faith and spirituality are seldom openly discussed in medicine. But for our
1:08.8	guests in this episode, Pediatric palliative care doctor,
1:12.0	Dr. Alicia Waldman, these issues are a daily fixture of his work.
1:16.0	Dr. Waldman is Associate Chief of the Division of Pediatric Palliative Care at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and the former medical director of Pediatric Palliative Care at Columbia University Medical Center.
1:29.0	He is the author of the memoir This Narrow Space, in which he describes his seven years working as a pediatric oncologist in Jerusalem, Israel, while grappling with the ethical and political complexities that came with treating his Muslim, Jewish, and Christian patients.
1:46.8	Over the course of our conversation, Dr Waldman discusses his formative religious upbringing,
	...

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