A survey of nearly 800 resident physicians suggested that 90% deemed their residency education on the topic to be inadequate; 25% did not feel comfortable discussing end-of-life care with patients. Teachable moments in medicine may be subtler than we imagine. As medical educators, it is our challenge to find the sparks of new knowledge hidden in the everyday struggles of human illness and share them with learners. The resident team learned from this dying man. He was “a teaching case,” in every sense, and a person we had the opportunity to honor through our care.

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