Dr. Anthony Galanos, a 30-year veteran of Palliative Care and Geriatrics at Duke, joins Dr. JB to discuss the "dust under the rug" of the medical profession: Grief. They analyze the difference between acute professional grief and "Cumulative Grief"—the slow build-up of unproccessed loss that eventually causes a provider's knees to buckle.
Clinical Takeaways
The "Pause" Protocol: Instead of immediately rushing to the next patient after a death, the team stops for exactly one minute to acknowledge the loss. This resets the cognitive load.
The "Hero" Trap: Accepting the label of "Hero" implies limitless endurance. Rejecting this label is a protective mechanism for your mental health.
Presence Over Platitudes: When a patient dies, there are no "right words." The clinical data suggests that physical presence is the only metric that matters to the grieving family.
Case Chapters & Timestamps
(02:54) Grief 101: Why med students are desperate for this curriculum.
(08:26) Defining "Cumulative Grief" in high-volume specialties (ER/ICU).
(13:25) The "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" Trap: How to stop obsessing over the play you missed.
(15:00) The Intervention: How to implement "The Pause" in your hospital.
(20:29) Why the "Healthcare Hero" narrative is offensive and dangerous.
(27:00) Resilience vs. Environment: Why yoga won't fix a broken culture.
(42:23) "It's Okay That You're Not Okay": Pathologizing normal sadness.
References & Literature
Book: It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine
Book: A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Book: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Paper: Top 10 Tips of Grief and Bereavement for Palliative Care Providers (Galanos et al.)
