One of the things that I am doing these days is losing myself in reading books about death and dying. Several weeks ago, I went on-line to my public library system and ordered 12 interesting books. And then I realized I had another 6 to read for my New York Zen course. So I'm totally immersed in conversations with all these different authors.
One of my favourite authors so far has been Dr. Ira Byock, who wrote a famous book back in 1997 called Dying Well. He's an American Palliate Care Physician who was originally from Montana, but now lives in California and teaches at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. This book is so inspiring because he writes about wellness for dying people.
Plus, he puts forth an idea that conversations at death can bring about what he calls "life completion" in ways that actually improve the family relationships. Wow! This charges me up and makes me want to look for opportunities to be involved in this. I'm still not quite sure how this could happen for me, but it does seem to be a part of the palliative doctor role. It's logical to think it is also part of the end of life social worker role, whether in private practice or through a hospice.
I'm looking forward to 2 different volunteer opportunities I have coming up in the next couple of months - one at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the other at the Kensington Hospice. But first I have to jump through all their hoops, which are formidable indeed. For the hospital role, I had to visit my GP 5 times to get all the immunizations and blood work tests confirming my antibodies are high enough. The hospice required a vulnerable persons' clearance through the police. Fortunately they've sped up their back log and now it's down to only a 2-4 week wait.
The good news is that the more I learn about the field of end of life care, the more inspired I am and the more convinced I want to work in this field. In fact, today I found myself googling end of life care jobs in the US! I can certainly contemplate travelling wherever I need to go to get the job experience, if it's for a relatively short period of time. So for now it's one foot in front of the other and I need to get started with the volunteering, and do a few more weekends down in New York City.
One of my favourite authors so far has been Dr. Ira Byock, who wrote a famous book back in 1997 called Dying Well. He's an American Palliate Care Physician who was originally from Montana, but now lives in California and teaches at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. This book is so inspiring because he writes about wellness for dying people.
Plus, he puts forth an idea that conversations at death can bring about what he calls "life completion" in ways that actually improve the family relationships. Wow! This charges me up and makes me want to look for opportunities to be involved in this. I'm still not quite sure how this could happen for me, but it does seem to be a part of the palliative doctor role. It's logical to think it is also part of the end of life social worker role, whether in private practice or through a hospice.
I'm looking forward to 2 different volunteer opportunities I have coming up in the next couple of months - one at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the other at the Kensington Hospice. But first I have to jump through all their hoops, which are formidable indeed. For the hospital role, I had to visit my GP 5 times to get all the immunizations and blood work tests confirming my antibodies are high enough. The hospice required a vulnerable persons' clearance through the police. Fortunately they've sped up their back log and now it's down to only a 2-4 week wait.
The good news is that the more I learn about the field of end of life care, the more inspired I am and the more convinced I want to work in this field. In fact, today I found myself googling end of life care jobs in the US! I can certainly contemplate travelling wherever I need to go to get the job experience, if it's for a relatively short period of time. So for now it's one foot in front of the other and I need to get started with the volunteering, and do a few more weekends down in New York City.
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