Palliative Matters
Episodes
Greatest Hits: The Wisdom & Legacy of Dr. John Mulder
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this special tribute episode of Palliative Matters, guest host Dr. Gerald Harriman and Dr. Patrick Fitzgibbon honor the life and legacy of Dr. John...
Notes From The Field: A Surgeon's Journey to Holistic Palliative Care
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former surgical oncologist Dr. Andrea Wolf joins Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow to share her journey into holistic palliative care. She discuss...
Where joy and sorrow meet, joy wins
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Palliative Matters, John Mulder sits down with Dr. John Finn, a pioneer in hospice and palliative medicine, to explore the profound...
Exploring Spirituality in End-of-Life Care
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that 77% of patients want their physicians to consider their spiritual needs? Spirituality and religion have a significant impact on the ...
The Journey Isn't Linear
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Tim Ihrig joined Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow to take an insightful look at the downsides of our medical system. For a system focus...
What's Next: Establishing a New Normal
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When cancer patients finish treatment, they ring a bell—signifying the end of a chapter but not the end of their story. As the person transitions to...
The Indelible Scourge of Cancer: Survivorship & Implications of Palliative Care
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cancer is an identity-shaping experience. Survivors are forever changed and carry both physical and mental scars. In this episode, Dr. John Mulder and...
Defining Hope - The Legacy of Dr. John Mulder
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This rereleased episode is dedicated to longtime Palliative Matters host, Dr. John Mulder. The idea of hope is often idealistic and romanticized. For ...
Management of Disappointment: The Alternate Miracle and True Healing
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As palliative care physicians, Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow have witnessed their fair share of miracles. This, however, rarely means a cure. ...
The Essence of Our Patients: Helping Them Define Their Story
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doctors are often trained to focus on the data. Data makes for a strong foundation, but it’s only the first floor. To truly care for a patient, we m...
The Pursuit of Joy
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As hospice and palliative care physicians, we care for patients in difficult situations. Yet, we see a lot of joy in those moments. So, what role can ...
A Practitioner's Journey to Palliative Medicine
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doctors are trained to cure, treat, and fix. So, how do physicians end up in a field of medicine where the objectives are different? In this episode, ...
Actually, there is something we can do!
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why should physicians never tell their patients, “There’s nothing more we can do?” As diseases and illnesses progress, the hope for a cure may d...
Palliating Uncertainty
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Uncertainty can cause a lot of suffering, but palliative medicine is meant to alleviate suffering. So, how can physicians work within it’s confines?...
How Doctors Think
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What motivates doctors’ decision-making beyond evidence, knowledge, and experience? As Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow discuss, our patient&ap...
Recognizing the Uniqueness of Each Patient’s Illness Journey
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As physicians, we let our experiences and knowledge guide us. Often, this leads to us entering a patient’s room with some assumptions in hand. Howev...
Finding Peace at the End of Life: A Potential Role for Psychedelic Medication
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Psilocybin has had a place in healing for millennia, particularly among ancient civilizations and cultures. While it's had a negative view in som...
Why Doctors Die Differently: What do they know that their patients don't?
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Studies have shown that doctors are less likely to have surgery or be admitted to the ICU in the last six months of their life and are less likely to ...
The Gift of Time
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prognostication is not an exact science. So, when patients ask the inevitable question, “How much time do I have, doc?” How can we answer? In this...
Stories from the Bedside: The Impact of "Dying to Tell You" Podcast
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow are joined by palliative care chaplain Cody Hufstedler. Cody has a podcast of his own, Dying to...
Managing Uncertainty in End-of-Life Care
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For each diagnosis, there is an expected path that the disease will take. But along that path are many offshoots of possibilities, known and unknown. ...
What Disease Takes Away: The Dimensions of Life Changes in the Midst of Serious Illness
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When someone is given a life-altering diagnosis, change is inevitable. Disease can take away so much from a person: their identity, their power, their...
"What would you do, doc.?" Pt. 2 - Moving at the Speed of Trust: Strategies for Establishing Trusting Relationships
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most doctors understand that establishing trust is an important part of caring for their patients. But how does one go about doing so? In this episode...
"What Would You Do, Doc?" Pt. 1: Building Trust Between Physicians and Patients
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Helping patients and their loved ones make decisions is one of the greatest challenges of being a physician. But it’s also one of the greatest respo...
When Music Heals
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can music address the psychological, physiological, and sociological issues associated with life-limiting illnesses and the end-of-life? In this e...
The Role of Palliative Care in Progressive Neurologic Disease
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow are joined by Dan and Lisl Keuning, who share their personal experience with Dan’s frontal tempo...
The Impact of Interdisciplinary Care
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When people hear the word hospice, it often brings about fear and anxiety. But when the interdisciplinary services and benefits hospice provides are e...
Discussing Death & Dying
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a society, we have a tendency to avoid talking about death and dying. But as palliative and hospice care providers, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow are ...
Being Present: Serving Those Who Grieve
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When someone enters palliative or hospice care, a whole new set of tools and resources become available, including bereavement care for their loved on...
Unexpected Blessings of Palliative Medicine
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While palliative care can have a profound impact on patients, it can also be transformational for their family, friends, or others who they are close ...
Autonomy & Advance Care Planning
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Advance care planning involves discussing and preparing for future decisions about medical care, and, as the doctors explain, it is all about patient ...
Healing vs. Curing
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can someone experience healing while not being cured of their disease? In this next episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow discuss the differences betwee...
Witnessing the Power of Hospice
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A terminal prognosis forces people to face their mortality, which can lead to somepretty incredible events—core memories being made, long-broken rel...
The Purpose of Palliative Care
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With palliative care being a relatively new field of medicine, there are still many misconceptions about what this specialty provides. While it is oft...
Lessons Our Patients Have Taught Us
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What do we learn from our patients that make us better people and better doctors? In this episode, the doctors discuss patient circumstances and what ...
Defining Hope
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The idea of hope is often idealistic and romanticized. For those facing a life-limiting illness, the “hope” of being cured or life returning to th...
The Concept of Suffering
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When most people think of suffering, they think of it in terms of physical pain, but suffering is a much more dynamic concept. When someone is facing ...
Exploring Values and Goals
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When a patient is faced with a life-limiting illness, it is often assumed that they will take the most aggressive route of treatment, but that is not ...
The Burden of Choices
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There is often this feeling that you need to make all of the “right” choices when you or a loved one is facing a serious illness. People might thi...