Larner College of Medicine News & Media

Gramling and Button Featured in End-of-Life Doulas Story on MarketWatch

September 9, 2022 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(SEPTEMBER 9, 2022) MarketWatch featured Robert Gramling, M.D., professor of family medicine, and Diane Button, an instructor in the College’s online end-of-life doula professional certificate program, in a story about so-called death doulas who provide nonmedical care and support for people who are dying and their loved ones.

Robert Gramling, M.D.

(SEPTEMBER 9, 2022) MarketWatch featured Professor of Family Medicine Robert Gramling, M.D., a palliative care physician and a core faculty partner for UVM’s doula program; and Diane Button, who teaches in the online end-of-life doula professional certificate program at the Larner College of Medicine, in a story about so-called death doulas who provide nonmedical care and support for people who are dying and their loved ones. Dr. Gramling agreed that the pandemic created an opportunity to talk about death in a way society hadn’t before. “It can be terrifying to be sick. The COVID pandemic brought into sharp relief that death is part of life. The tragedy of social distancing has sharpened our focus on the space of being alone and isolated. It catapulted us into a public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. Our world is thirsty for this,” he said.