introducing
Dr. Leet sits with Dr. Marc Gabel during a Council meeting last year.
photo: D.W. Dorken
obstetricians/gynecologists and discover that
there are certain areas of practice more prone
to complaints. The results of these findings
are reported to the ICRC as well as to other
committees, such as Education. The expectation is that we will ultimately share this information with the different specialty societies
to allow them to provide more education that
targets those areas prone to complaints.
Q. Most physicians will have at least one
complaint made about them at some
point in their career. Has there ever
been a complaint made against you?
A. I’ve had two complaints in about 25 years.
Both of them were about my communication
and, in fact, communication is a factor in the
majority of complaints that are received by
ICRC. When I reflected on the complaints, I
recognized that, my communication had not
been optimal. I have tried to improve my
communication going forward, and monitor myself every day. I realize that it is a skill
that needs to be developed and maintained
throughout my career.
Q. You are chairing the working group
that is reviewing our End of Life Care policy. Did working on the policy lead you
to reflect on some of your own personal
views towards death and dying, both as a
doctor and a patient?
A. Through my work as a pediatrician and
through the cases I reviewed on ICRC, I had
a strong understanding of how painful and
challenging it is to deal with the imminent
death of a patient, a child, or a parent. But
when I lost my father in 2014, I learned how
very hard it is to be one of the substitute
decision-makers and have to navigate through
the medical system, while dealing with your
grief. Even though my father had told us his
wishes, it was so difficult to let him go.
We were helped immeasurably by the members of his medical team, and we found that
those physicians who were the most communicative and the most able to show empathy
were of the greatest support. I think the draft
policy, which was developed with the expertise of palliative care physicians, reflects the
importance of those qualities.
Issue 4, 2014 Dialogue
53