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The Dalai Lama once said, "Compassion is a mental attitude based on the wish for others to be free of their suffering." Dr. Paul Jodka personifies this. An intensivist in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Paul possesses an uncanny ability to communicate with seriously ill patients, though they may be unable to speak or move. An ICU nurse who works with Paul wrote this: "Understanding illness through the patient's eyes is critical to excellent humanistic care ... Dr. Jodka's care for critically ill patients and their families is unsurpassed from the view of staff, patients and families alike."
Naturally inquisitive, Paul knew there was more to medicine than data and clinical evidence. Once he stripped away the layers, he found his patient, a human being deserving of much more than medicine alone can offer. He learns about his patients through intimate conversations with their families — those who can give him the best insight on how their loved ones might feel and how they wished to be treated. Paul values and applies this information in the same way he would read an EKG or monitor blood oxygen levels.
Paul is devoted to improving the health of his patients, but inherently understands that life ends too soon for some. His job is to find the emotional space for people to pass peacefully. The Baystate physician who nominated Paul recounted the story of a man in his thirties who was a wonderful husband, the father of two young children, and active in the church and community. This man spent the final six weeks of his life in the ICU with complications from chemotherapy he was receiving to treat lymphoma. Through the course of the man's illness, Paul directed all treatment and, at the same time, guided the whole family's experience as the grave situation unfolded. "He spent an incredible amount of time with the family," wrote Paul's colleague, "changing his schedule to meet their needs, keeping them up to date and explaining everything in terms they could understand." As the condition of the patient deteriorated, Paul commented during morning Rounds, "I am going to need to sit down with the family and make sure they understand that he is not going to get better." He paused and then added, "I need to accept that he's not going to get better."
Paul knew that as a good doctor that he too must accept the outcome, whether life or death. The family testified that Paul's exceptional devotion made their difficult situation better, and with Paul's unrelenting support and concern, they were able to let go of their husband and father — not easily, but with the understanding that all that could have been done to save their loved one was done. They were able to accept his death both intellectually and emotionally, and for this reason Paul believes, "there were no bad outcomes.'"
Early in his medical education, Paul noticed a lack of formal training in "the 'non-scientific' interpersonal aspects of patient care." Now, he is committed to teaching medical students and young residents to be empathic and compassionate. In an environment as chaotic as the ICU, Paul is patient and respectful with everyone, regardless of position or background. Equally devoted to improving systems, Paul joined a palliative care committee and helped create the "Going Home" program, which facilitates a patient's movement from the ICU to home so the patient can pass away in familiar surroundings with family at the bedside.
Paul believes his team at Baystate all share the same philosophy and spirit of caring for patients, and emphasizes that the source of hope and sustenance in the ICU comes from the collective work of his team. Finding it difficult to accept accolades for his efforts alone, he remains humble, self-effacing and earnest. However, those who work with Paul recognize him as a constant source of inspiration. One nurse wrote in a letter of support for Paul, "He leads by example without even knowing it ... Paul lives his convictions."
Paul was born in Europe and lived there during his youth. He moved to the United States to start his formal education and enrolled in medical school at Tufts University. He completed both his internship and residency in internal medicine at Baystate, and now is the attending physician in the critical care division there. He resides in Amherst with his wife, Carol, also a physician, and their two young children.
On this tenth anniversary, the Schwartz Center is pleased to recognize Paul as the seventh recipient of the Compassionate Caregiver Award. The family of the man who died from complications wrote in a letter of support, "If Dr. Jodka offers all his patients the compassionate treatment he provided our family, he should be honored not only this year, but every year hereafter." Without a doubt, Paul will continue to treat his patients with great compassion. And the Schwartz Center will continue to honor him — and all those who share his values and vision.
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