Palliative Care in India: M.R. Rajagopal

Published: May 12, 2022, 7 a.m.

b'In today\\u2019s podcast we talk with Dr. Rajagopal (goes by \\u201cRaj\\u201d), one of the pioneers of palliative care in India.\\xa0 Raj is an anesthesiologist turned palliative care doctor.\\xa0 He is also author of the book, \\u201cWalk with the Weary: Lessons in Humanity in Health Care,\\u201d and was featured in this Atlantic article.\\xa0 Raj is the founder of Pallium, an organization dedicated to improving palliative care throughout India.\\xa0 We are joined by guest-host Tom McNally, a rehab and pediatric palliative care doc at UCSF.

In this podcast, we cover a great deal of ground, including:

  • Early challenges Dr. Raj faced in pain management: access to opioids, corruption, a system that doesn\\u2019t see addressing suffering as a priority
  • Prognosis communication and the subtle ways we may communicate it without intention
  • Social pain and loneliness
  • Community-based palliative care networks\\xa0
  • Raj\\u2019s reflections on the state of palliative care in the US
  • How definitions bind us, for example the division between chronic pain and palliative pain in much of the US
  • Ways listeners can learn more and contribute (see this link in the US)

Because the song request was the short theme-song for Pallium, I recorded it two ways.\\xa0 The intro is the upbeat guitar driven version.\\xa0 The outro is the synthesizer (new toy!) slowed down version.

Enjoy!

-@AlexSmithMD\\xa0

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