Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to share a recent essay by Dr. Sunita Puri, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and Director of the Inpatient Palliative Care Service.
Published in The New Yorker, Dr. Puri's essay, "When Should You Say Goodbye to a Pet?", offers a thoughtful reflection on caregiving, grief, quality of life, and the difficult decisions that accompany the end of life. Drawing upon her expertise in palliative medicine, the essay explores how our relationships with companion animals can illuminate broader questions about love, suffering, care, and mortality.
Dr. Puri is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, which examines her journey into palliative medicine and her efforts to help patients and families redefine what it means to live and die well in the face of serious illness. A graduate of Yale University and Rhodes Scholar, her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, and JAMA, among others. Her work has been featured by PBS, NPR, BBC, The Guardian, and numerous national and international media outlets.
We encourage you to read and share this compelling essay:
"When Should You Say Goodbye to a Pet?"
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/when-should-you-say-goodbye-to-a-pet
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Puri on this wonderful publication.
Warm regards,
Kelli Sharp
Director of Center for Medical Humanities