What doctors feel with physician/writer Danielle Ofri

Guest:  Michael Nutter, Danielle Ofri

We start this hour remembering the influential Pennsylvania Congressman and pastor William Gray who died unexpectedly Monday.  Then, inherent in the practice of medicine is the responsibility physicians have to alleviate pain and suffering. Armed with the advanced skills and knowledge, doctors care for the sick and dying day in and day out but rarely are able to reveal the toll their work takes on their emotional well-being.  In her new book, What Doctors Feel, physician/writer DANIELLE OFRI explores the inner lives of doctors. She writes about the joys and rewards of the profession but also about the fears of making a mistake, the sadness when a patient dies, the stresses of the routine and the sorrow one feels when there is nothing he or she can do to help a patient. Ofri practices internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York and teaches medicine at New York University of Medicine. She also is an author of several books and is a regular contributor to the New York Times “Well” blog.