An old article, but worth a read if you haven't seen it [View all]
https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/08/06/how-doctors-die/
How Doctors Die
Aug 6, 2012
By KEN MURRAY, MD
Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. This surgeon was one of the best in the country. He had even invented a new procedure for this exact cancer that could triple a patients five-year-survival oddsfrom 5 percent to 15 percentalbeit with a poor quality of life. Charlie was uninterested. He went home the next day, closed his practice, and never set foot in a hospital again. He focused on spending time with family and feeling as good as possible. Several months later, he died at home. He got no chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical treatment. Medicare didnt spend much on him.
Its not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they dont die like the rest of us. Whats unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently.
Of course, doctors dont want to die; they want to live. But they know enough about modern medicine to know its limits. And they know enough about death to know what all people fear most: dying in pain, and dying alone. Theyve talked about this with their families. They want to be sure, when the time comes, that no heroic measures will happenthat they will never experience, during their last moments on earth, someone breaking their ribs in an attempt to resuscitate them with CPR (thats what happens if CPR is done right).
...snip...
more at the link