'The Chaplain and the Doctor' Centers Empathy and Spirituality in Health Care

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A new documentary, “The Chaplain and the Doctor,” offers an intimate glimpse into the palliative care unit of an Oakland hospital, where two women — an 80-year-old African American chaplain and a white Jewish physician — navigate the complexities of end-of-life care from profoundly different perspectives. As their paths intertwine, what begins as a professional encounter deepens into a friendship grounded in empathy, spiritual reflection and shared commitment to healing. The film will soon make its world premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival. We’re joined by the film’s subjects, chaplain Betty Clark and Dr. Jessica Zitter, who is also its director. Guests: Dr. Jessica Zitter, physician, Highland Hospital in Oakland - director, "The Chaplain and the Doctor" Betty Clark, chaplain, Highland Hospital in Oakland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine in 2024.
0:09.7	In August, three or four people sharing a cassita enjoy special vacation packages that include hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes, in a garden setting on 4,000 verdant acres of nature preserve.
0:22.4	Check in to summer at Rancho LaPorta, Rancho LaPorta.com.
0:26.6	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:34.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:40.6	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:46.3	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
0:53.2	devotion.
1:02.1	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.4	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.0	From KQED.
1:27.2	From KQED in San Francisco. I'm Leslie McClurg. I'm in for Mina Kim.
1:30.1	Coming up on forum, a new documentary takes us inside the palliative care unit at Oakland's Highland Hospital,
1:37.0	where two women, a black chaplain and a white Jewish doctor, are helping patients through some of life's hardest moments.
1:46.0	At first, they don't quite click,
1:51.0	but as they work side by side, they start to learn from each other and from their patients about what it really means to provide good care. That's next after this news.
2:19.9	Thank you. Welcome. This is Forum. I'm Leslie McClurek. I'm in today for Mina Kim. What does it really mean to care for someone who is in pain or maybe someone who is at the end of their life? A new documentary, The Chaplain and the Doctor, follows two women who have
2:26.0	spent decades sitting beside people with serious illnesses, people who are in their final days.
2:31.8	Betty Clark is a chaplain and Dr. Jessica Zitter is a palliative care
2:35.8	physician and the film takes us inside Oakland's Highland Hospital, which is a level one trauma center
2:42.1	and is premiering. The film is premiering at the San Francisco International Film Festival on Monday.
2:47.9	And I have Chaplain, Clark, and Dr. Zitter here in studio with us this morning.
	...

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