Considering the tragedies that occur daily in the hospital, there are plenty of reasons to stop and cry, but should you? After talking with colleagues about this and being in many difficult conversations, the simplest answer is that if crying fits for you and for the situation, it can be positive in its ability to strengthen existing bonds. If tearing up in public is not your thing, don't go there.
As a palliative medicine physician, I encounter many sad, difficult, and trying situations that test my emotional stamina daily. In fact for some physicians, it may be that visceral connection to another human that attracts us to medicine. I was surprised in residency when I first discovered that ''breaking bad news'' and ''compassionate honesty'' led to praise and gratitude from patients and families who would cry, be angry, and eventually come to a certain peaceful but sad acceptance of dying. Using my medical knowledge to guide patients and families through this was personally rewarding and occasionally emotionally difficult, but I never cried in these meetings. But then, I also am firmly planted in the second half of the answer above: I don't cry in public.
