We must answer these questions before articulating a comprehensive approach to the discussion of prognosis. Yet, he does not fully probe the implications of this statement. If one does not recognize and manage skillfully the emotion underlying the question, then the honest prognostication Christakis hopes physicians will learn to convey will not be heard. Managing emotions and prognosticating are interdependent and require equal attention. This superb book offers the most scholarly analysis ever written of prognosis, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the doctor-patient relationship.
Prognostication is one of the most important and difficult tasks physicians perform.
Informed by his own practice, Christakis has tremendous compassion for the struggle of the individual physician. He argues forcefully that the profession must take responsibility for the current widespread avoidance of prognosis and change the present culture. This prophet is one whose advice we would do well to heed. All rights reserved.