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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Gawande say he connected himself and his father to, by scattering the ashes in the Ganges?
(a) Mother Earth.
(b) Father Time.
(c) Something larger than themselves.
(d) Their ethnic people.

2. What does Gawande say changed Bill Thomas’ life to raise his expectations?
(a) High marks on a college prep test.
(b) A chance discussion with a family friend.
(c) A sports scholarship.
(d) An impromptu interview with a college admissions officer.

3. Of the people who died in hospice care in the U.S. in 2010, what percent does Gawande say died at home?
(a) 40%.
(b) 20%.
(c) 30%.
(d) More than half.

4. What does Gawande say has provided him with the most meaningful experiences as a doctor?
(a) Helping patients deal with questions of ethics and the good life.
(b) Helping patients deal with questions of philosophy and the spirit.
(c) Helping patients deal with what medicine cannot do.
(d) Helping patients deal with limitations imposed by of mortality.

5. What does Gawande say is the problem with courage?
(a) It is always open for interpretation.
(b) It is hard to tell what the wide course is.
(c) It can be manifested in opposite ways, in different circumstances.
(d) It depends on your information-gathering skills.

6. How many oncologists does Gawande admit to providing treatments they know will not work?
(a) 30%.
(b) 40%.
(c) 50%.
(d) 60%.

7. What did Gawande’s father make Gawande promise him?
(a) He would not let him suffer.
(b) He would not go a nursing home.
(c) He would not let his pain embarrass him.
(d) He would not be alone when it was time.

8. What value did Thomas espouse in running his farm?
(a) Sustainability.
(b) Efficiency.
(c) Stewardship.
(d) Self-reliance.

9. How much of Medicare spending goes to the 5% of patients who are in their last year of life?
(a) 25%.
(b) 40%.
(c) 33%.
(d) 15%.

10. How does Gawande characterize the phase of cultural development we are in, with regard to care for the sick and dying?
(a) More spiritualized.
(b) Transitional.
(c) More institutional.
(d) More medicalized.

11. How often does Gawande say he thought about elderly patients before the issue of geriatrics became an interest for him?
(a) He had done his residency in a geriatrics unit.
(b) He had watched his father practice in geriatrics.
(c) He was always passingly interested in geriatrics.
(d) He never thought about them.

12. What other pets did Chase Memorial also eventually adopt?
(a) Rabbits.
(b) Horses.
(c) Pigs.
(d) Ducks.

13. When did Bill Thomas take over as director of the Chase Memorial Nursing Home?
(a) 1998.
(b) 1986.
(c) 1991.
(d) 1972.

14. What does Gawande say his father’s chance of being paralyzed by surgery were?
(a) 1 in 6
(b) 1 in 20.
(c) 1 in 10.
(d) 1 in 4.

15. How does Gawande characterize the operation he ultimately performed on Jewel Douglas?
(a) Extreme.
(b) Exploratory.
(c) Palliative.
(d) Aggressive.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the third place Gawande’s father wanted his ashes scattered?

2. By what rate did the death rate decline at Chase, after the introduction of animals?

3. How does Gawande say he answered when his patient’s family asked if his patient was dying?

4. What event does Jewel Douglas ask Gawande to help her get to?

5. How many varieties of chemotherapy did Sara Monopoli try?

(see the answer keys)

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