A growing number of US states and other nations are legalizing either voluntary euthanasia in which a physician (or designate) administers lethal drugs, or physician-assisted dying in which the drugs are given to the patient to self-administer. Our guest, Erica Baccus, tells us about her husband's determination to end his life rather than die of Alzheimer's disease, and the journey they took to Switzerland to make it possible (US laws don't apply to dementia). His wishes were unquestionably honored. At the same time the procedure has implications we find troubling, especially for what it can mean for the doctor-patient relationship, such as in Canada where some physicians are now killing several of their patients a week.

For years, doctors and those learning to practice medicine were told pain is "the fifth vital sign" and to treat it aggressively – including with opioids, "if that's what it takes." A consequent rise in opioid prescribing contributed to the devastating opioid crisis.

Then the pendulum swung in the opposite direction, hard, with physicians cutting off opioid prescribing to patients, often without their consent. That too led to suffering with many deaths by suicide. What do these two seemingly opposing trends share in common? Both reflect a failure to embrace current knowledge about chronic pain and to bring compassion and caring to people who are suffering.

Co-hosts Saul Weiner and Stefan Kertesz discuss the implications from two perspectives: Medical learners are still taught to treat chronic pain like a simple bodily injury ("somatically") with the caveat to avoid opioids, spurring apathy and frustration. Stefan, an addiction medicine specialist who has been conducting a national study of suicides related to forced opioid tapers, argues that we have "become addicted to talking about opioids" rather than about all the good we could do if we applied current knowledge and compassion to help people who are suffering.

From the 1940 to the 1970's, medicine went from an almost exclusively male club to a profession in which women physicians were commonplace.

Our physician guest is Dr. Anne Walling, who has written a book about the experiences of 37 women who attended a Midwestern medical school, Women in Medicine: Stories from the Girls in White

This was a time when pornographic images appeared in lecture slides, and sexual harassment and discrimination in the job market were ubiquitous.

Despite the misogyny, the women interviewed nearly all expressed gratitude that they were able to have such meaningful, rewarding, and stimulating careers.

Our guest told us that her interviewees described reunions where male colleagues seemed burned out and cynical, while many of these women remained upbeat and excited about their medical work.

What can we learn from the story of women's entry into mainstream medicine? How has the profession been changed (or not) by their presence?