Geriatric fellowship training programs at even the most prestigious institutions are sometimes unable to find willing candidates. I call his career decision unusual because gerontology remains among the least popular fields of practice for medical students to enter. He begins the book by explaining why he made the unusual choice to specialize in care for the elderly.
The author, David Dosa, is a geriatrician at the Steere House Nursing Center in Rhode Island where Oscar lives. Now, years later, a book entitled Making Rounds with Oscar chronicles a doctor's discovery of the animal's special gift. The story generated a good deal of interest, earning the feline 15 minutes of fame. The furry creature's presence at a person's bedside invariably signaled that life's end was near. Living as a pet in a nursing home dementia unit, Oscar demonstrated an uncanny ability to predict which of its residents were about to die. Heartfelt, inspiring, and sometimes even funny, Making Rounds with Oscar allows listeners into a world that is often misunderstood and rarely seen from the outside.In a 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, amid the usual fare of the latest and greatest in biomedical research, there appeared a short piece about a cat named Oscar ( 1).
Dosa uses Oscar and the stories of several patients to examine end-of-life care as it exists today for the family and caregivers of dementia and Alzheimer's patients. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing-home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, considered a blessing because it allows staff members to notify families that the end is near and because he provides companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone.ĭr. Adopted by staff members at Steere House nursing home when he was a kitten, the three-year-old tabby has presided over the deaths of more than twenty-five nursing home residents thus far. An otherwise ordinary cat-he'd sooner give you his back or a sideways glance than curl up on your lap-Oscar has the uncanny ability to predict when people are about to die.
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