Palliative Care in Emergency Medicine: A Perspective from a Trainee.

Abstract

Emergency medicine is practiced under conditions in which decisions and conversations often precede diagnostic or prognostic certainty. In this context, palliative care is frequently misconceived as a late intervention rather than a clinical stance applicable during uncertainty. This perspective posits that palliative care in the emergency department should be understood as an approach grounded in early recognition of unmet needs, communication under uncertainty, and deliberate clinical presence. Drawing on the experience of a physician training in palliative care, the article explores how "staying" with patients and families before certainty emerges constitutes meaningful emergency care and supports proportionate decisionmaking in acute settings.