Professor David Currow

A healthier approach to dying

The last stages of life have long been feared as a time of tribulation but, as one of the world’s leading experts in palliative care, Professor David Currow says the end of life should be a special time, when we get the care we need to make the most of our last days.

Professor Currow himself seems to be living several lives at once. Flinders runs one of the world’s largest online palliative care clinical courses, teaching palliative care to more than 350 students around the world.

At the same time, he holds down roles as Chief Cancer Officer of NSW and CEO of the Cancer Institute of NSW, Professor of Medicine and Director of Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care at Dartmouth College in the US.

Professor Currow’s research into breathlessness has already changed the end of life for many people for the better.

“There has long been an issue with breathlessness in the last stages of life, where all the underlying reversible causes have been treated and yet the person is still breathless,” he said.

“Our research has shown how better use of oxygen and regular low-dose sustained release of morphine can reduce breathlessness, and is changing the approach to treating last stage of life care around the world.”

Professor Currow wandered into palliative care as a junior doctor while doing the rounds of specialities, and immediately recognised it as the place he was meant to be.

“To walk alongside people, understand what has been important to them and their families, and to work with them to achieve goals in the time that is left is a privilege,” Professor Currow said.