Why caring for a parent is hard for doctors
10/22/25 at 03:00 AM
Why caring for a parent is hard for doctors
MedPage Today's KevinMD.com; by Barbara Sparacino, MD; 10/19/25
I can sit with patients and families and talk about hospice, dementia, or end-of-life care without hesitation. Years of training as a physician and geriatric psychiatrist have prepared me for those conversations. But when my own parent needed care, all that training suddenly felt useless. Medical knowledge didn’t shield me from fear or guilt. It didn’t stop the second-guessing that came with every decision. It didn’t help me navigate the family disagreements about “what Mom would have wanted.” In that moment, I wasn’t the physician. I was the daughter, and that was far more complicated.
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