Why in the World Would Anyone Listen to Me?

Let’s be honest: we're all drowning takes. Why add mine? Because these aren’t abstract musings—they’re forged in the crucible of inpatient palliative care, where theory meets reality and reality usually wins.

I'm Kyle: I've been working in Specialist Palliative Care for over a decade and I'm married to someone who does that same work (with adults and kids!). I'm a dad who brings his skills home and takes his parenting skills to work. And I'm a doctor politician, keeping an eye on the systems and structures that constrain (or liberate) us all. I'm a guy working to understand how the world works who also lives to form opinions (and then change my mind about them later).

Here’s the deal:

• I live where medicine gets real. Not in the land of “optimize the potassium” or “add another consult.” I work in the liminal space where life and death strip people down to their most human selves.
• I’ve seen the myths up close—and they’re ridiculous. Comfort care ≠ doing nothing. Families can handle the truth. And no, communication isn’t a mystical gift bestowed at birth.
• I know what works because I’ve watched what fails. Evidence beats inertia every time. Yet medicine clings to mythology like a toddler with a blanket.
• I believe communication is a skill, not a vibe. Anyone can get better—but it takes practice, coaching, and humility. If you think “I’m just not good at hard conversations,” congratulations: you’ve bought into one of the most expensive lies in healthcare.
• I’m allergic to clichés. Palliative care isn’t about puppies and warm fuzzies. It’s about navigating the hardest conversations in medicine with clarity, courage, and—yes—humor.

Why listen to me? Because I’m not here to sell platitudes. I’m here to share the soapboxes I stand on every day, bust the myths that make care worse, and offer the kind of practical wisdom you only get when you’ve sat at the bedside for thousands of hours.

If you want calm analysis or sterile journal clubs, keep scrolling. If you want sharp insights, a lot of irreverence, and the occasional rant that makes you rethink how we care for people when everything is on the line, welcome to Rounds & Rants.