“This Work Challenges You to Reflect on Time, Relationships, and What Truly Matters”

Finding Purpose in Palliative Care

I’m currently working at Galway Hospice as a standalone registrar. That means I’m gaining experience in the specialty of palliative care, though I’m not enrolled in the official training scheme.

I actually worked here before, back in 2023, covering a registrar role — so I knew the team and the service quite well already. It’s been a very positive experience, which is why I came back. I appreciate the kind of care that’s delivered here — it’s comprehensive, patient-centred, and allows you the time to really be present with patients and their families.

A Path Shaped by Curiosity and Compassion

My background is a bit unusual. I haven’t applied to any formal training scheme yet. I may go into GP training, but I’m also very interested in research. I recently started a PhD in the social science of medicine with the anthropology department at Maynooth.

The project looks at medical professionalism, primary care, and care for marginalised groups. It’s not strictly clinical, but it’s still very connected to the kind of care that palliative care represents.

Learning from Patients and the Team

I’ve had the opportunity to work both in the inpatient unit and in the community, and I really appreciated seeing both sides. In the unit, you get to observe patients closely, day by day — there’s that continuity.

But the community side is also valuable; it’s less clinical in some ways, with nurses leading much of the care and the doctor acting more as a consultant. There’s a lot of coordination, home visits, and support for patients and families through Day Care. It gave me a more complete picture of what palliative care means in different settings.

A Deeper Understanding of Medicine

When I first came into palliative care, I didn’t know what to expect. Like many doctors, I didn’t learn much about it in medical school. But I had worked with some GPs who were very passionate about integrating palliative principles into general practice, and that sparked my interest.

One unexpected thing for me was how much pharmacology is involved in palliative care. You learn to use medication in nuanced ways — not just for their primary effects, but sometimes precisely for their side effects. It’s a very thoughtful use of medication, which, in many ways, is what medicine should be about.

The Human Connection

I’ve learned a lot about symptom control, and I’ve learned so much from the nurses — especially the senior nurses here and in the community teams.

Communication is another huge part of what I’ve gained. Spending time with the consultants, observing how they talk with patients and families — you pick up not just techniques, but a mindset. It’s deeply human, and sadly, often overlooked in acute care, where time is short and pressure is high.

What Truly Matters

Personally, this work makes you reflect. It challenges you to think about time, about relationships, and about what really matters. Seeing patients and families face serious illness and loss with strength and vulnerability changes you.

If I had one message to share, it would be this — something I carry with me in my practice. They were the last words of Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet, sent as a text to his wife before he died.

In Latin, he wrote: noli timere — “don’t be afraid.”
I think that says it all. Whether you’re a patient, a doctor, a caregiver, or a family member, that’s a message we can all hold onto.

— Dr Gabriele Orsini