“As the ink on my medical degree was still drying, I covered a hospital’s oncology service at night, taking care of cancer patients admitted for chemotherapy. The prognoses of the patients were variable: Some underwent aggressive treatment with anticipated remission; others received brief palliative treatment to improve their quality of life before the end. The experience taught me how medicine deals not only with disease itself, but with the dis-ease that both illness and life circumstances create…” read more: Aaron Rothstein

Aaron Rothstein, M.D., is a neurologist and fellow in bioethics and American democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and hosts the podcast Searching for Medicine’s Soul.