NEJM Perspective: Learning to Say Goodbye

James A. Feinstein, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, [University of Colorado School of Medicine] offers a heartfelt tribute to the late Steve Berman, MD, in a perspective essay published May 11 by The New England Journal of Medicine. Steve, who became the youngest section head of General Academic Pediatrics and later became director of the Center for Global Health, influenced countless others as a physician, advisor, mentor and friend. In the essay, “Learning to Say Goodbye,” Jamie describes how Steve showed him that caring for patients involves more than dispassionately diagnosing and treating them. Compassionate care means you make a personal connection. Jamie completes the circle when he says goodbye to Steve in this profound essay.