Greg Phelps was Chief Medical Officer for a health system spanning two states and contemplating retirement when his mother passed away in hospice. Intrigued by this burgeoning discipline in end of life care and burned out on his administrative position, he decided over the strong objections of spouse and family to go back to school, resuming an intern like position as a fellow in Hospice and Palliative Care.

Going back to school at age 55 proves to be a challenge beyond what he might have anticipated. "Just think of me as an intern with 30 years experience," he breezily tells his residents and fellows but what ensues is a stressful hands-on journey with sick and often dying patients while confronting his own aging and illness as well as new faculty young enough to be his children.

Peppered with anecdotes drawn from the daily experience, seasoned with both humor and inevitable sadness, this story explains both what hospice doctors do, what they learn and how, in the end, we all acknowledge our own mortality.

Gregory L Phelps MD, MPH, MAHCM, CAS CPE, FAAFP, FACPM, FAAHPM