Are doctors afraid of death? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 31, 2026 · 49 MIN

Are doctors afraid of death?

from Medicine and Science from The BMJ · host The BMJ

In this week's podcast - the Sensitivity of Patient Questionnaires: If you've ever asked a patient to fill out a Patient Health Questionnaire (like the PHQ-9) to assess their mental health and wondered exactly how much of a change it can actually detect, new research just published on bmj.com sets out to answer that question. We're joined by Brett Thombs, Professor in the department of Psychiatry at McGill University Also this week, Are Doctors Scared of Death? BMJ Careers Editor Abi Rimmer sits down in the studio with Richard Coker, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at LSHTM. Drawing from his early days as an HIV doctor during the onset of the AIDS epidemic, and later with infectious disease outbreaks in South East Asia. Professor Coker discusses the profound experiences of the end of his patients lives that shaped his new book, Timor Mortis: How We Live with Death. Reading list: Minimal detectable change of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Patient Health Questionnaire-8, and Patient Health Questionnaire-2`

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Are doctors afraid of death?

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