“The Best Care Possible” by Ira Byock—A Lesson for All of Us in Cancer Education

Excerpt

As a gift on the very first day it was published, Ira Byock, my esteemed colleague at Dartmouth, gave me an autographed copy of his newest book, The Best Care Possible [1]. I have known and admired Ira for many years now, since the time he was administering the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s palliative care portfolio; his work, writings, and, indeed, his very “being” have always been a source of inspiration. In the best of ways, Ira is a man on a mission to change the world. As a matter of fact, the subtitle of this latest book is A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life. Ira reminds me of Paul Farmer, who was described in the subtitle of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder as being on a “quest to heal the world” [2]. Ira and Paul are cut from the same cloth. My institution was very fortunate to have attracted Ira; he runs our palliative care program magnificently and, more importantly, he uses our center as the home base for his quest. Being with him is a profoundly energizing experience. His passion and dreams for a better future for medicine are contagious. …