David Schenck: Into The Field of Suffering

David Schenck is co-author of two previous books on ethics and healing in healthcare, Healers: Extraordinary Clinicians at Work and What Patients Teach: Everyday Ethics of Healthcare. Schenck taught philosophy and religion for 20 years and has published widely in bioethics, philosophy, and religious studies. He was founding executive director of a free medical clinic, a healthcare advocate for the homeless, and a 25-year hospice volunteer. He will discuss how caregivers can develop the awareness skills to avoid burnout and find renewal. Drawing on hundreds of conversations with healthcare workers and caregivers, patients and families, Schenck and Neely offer a radically different perspective on caregiving—as not a trial to be endured but an opportunity for learning and transformation to be embraced. Through simple practices, caregivers will develop the awareness skills to avoid burnout and find renewal. Yes, it’s “a spiritual venture,” the authors affirm, but it’s eminently sensible and practical too.