Patient deaths, inner scars, and physicians’ need to grieve

Patient deaths, inner scars, and physicians’ need to grieve
Medscape; by Andrea Goto; 8/6/25
In 2023, Molly Taylor, MD, MS, a pediatric oncologist and attending physician at Seattle Children’s, sat in her parked car with tears streaming down her face. She was preparing to attend the memorial service for an 8-year-old patient she had lost a week prior. The patient’s mother had asked Taylor if she could share a few words about the little girl... Taylor is not alone in experiencing grief tinged with guilt after losing a patient. Although the prevalence of provider grief hasn’t been widely examined, a JPSM review published in 2023 indicated that it’s a significant issue in many areas of medicine.