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Some time way back in the latter half of my internship, I gave up the idea of saving lives and became more comfortable with the idea of managing illness to limit dis-ease. But in the ICU we really arenβt even able to do that very much since almost all the definitive maneuvers have already been made or are not any longer an option. As a result, what we do for ourselves and what we do for patients are really two distinct things. For ourselves we manage to learn a great deal about the mechanics of medical care for desperately sick people. For patients and, more importantly, for families, Iβm beginning to think what we do is simply provide a dramatic, even gruesome ritual of dying.
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Mikkael A. Sekeres (On the Edge of Life: Diary of a Medical Intensive Care Unit)