The Doctor's Art

Navigating My Father's Alzheimer's as a Doctor | Sandeep Jauhar, MD


Listen Later

Navigating the unforgiving hours and ethical challenges of medical training while holding onto humanism; the medical and cultural history of the human heart; the moving journey of a doctor as he wrestles with his duties as a son and caregiver for a father with dementia. These are just some of the diverse subject matters our guest in this episode, Sandeep Jauhar, MD, has written about. Dr. Jauhar is the director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and a multiple-time bestselling author whose writings have also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. In the first half of our conversation, Dr. Jauhar shares his journey in medicine and struggles with burnout; while in the second half, we discuss his poignant experiences caring for his father, the subject of his most recent book, My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's


In this episode, you will hear about:

  • How Dr. Jauhar’s immigrant parents influenced his choice to pursue a career in medicine - 2:02
  • Dr. Jauhar’s reflections on the role of indecisiveness in shaping his path to cardiology - 4:49
  • A discussion of a doctor’s struggle against a corporate medical system that inflicts moral injury on physicians - 12:51
  • Dr. Jauhar’s advice to physicians on ameliorating moral injury - 18:54
  • Reflections on how Alzheimer’s disease affects the patient’s family, and an overview of Dr. Jauhar’s recent book My Father’s Brain - 25:10
  • A discussion of therapeutic deception, also known as validation therapy, in which caregivers and loved ones are encouraged to “play along” with the distorted reality of a patient with dementia - 36:43
  • The conflicts between Dr. Jauhar and his siblings concerning end-of-life care for his father - 43:18
  • How the medical system needs to changed so that more support is given to dementia patients and their families - 49:05

Dr. Sandeep Jauhar is the author of several best-selling nonfiction books: Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation, Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Doctor, Heart, A History, and My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's

Dr. Jauhar also responds to medical students and residents on his blog Advice on Your First Year.

You can follow Dr. Jauhar on Twitter @SJauhar.

Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to [email protected].


Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Doctor's ArtBy Henry Bair and Tyler Johnson

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

261 ratings


More shows like The Doctor's Art

View all
Nutrition Diva by QuickAndDirtyTips.com, Monica Reinagel

Nutrition Diva

1,713 Listeners

TED Health by TED

TED Health

1,425 Listeners

Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields / Acast

Good Life Project

3,325 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,353 Listeners

10% Happier with Dan Harris by 10% Happier

10% Happier with Dan Harris

12,592 Listeners

GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast by Alex Smith, Eric Widera

GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast

282 Listeners

Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger by Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM

Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger

3,441 Listeners

Frankly Speaking About Family Medicine by Pri-Med

Frankly Speaking About Family Medicine

255 Listeners

The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast by The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast

The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast

3,327 Listeners

The Nutrition Science Podcast by Dr. Adrian Chavez

The Nutrition Science Podcast

510 Listeners

The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee by Physicians Committee

The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee

3,362 Listeners

The Nocturnists by The Nocturnists

The Nocturnists

596 Listeners

The Peter Attia Drive by Peter Attia, MD

The Peter Attia Drive

8,018 Listeners

Chasing Life by CNN

Chasing Life

8,220 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

28,610 Listeners