ABSTRACT
For most people, death only enters their lives a few times. When it does, it can precipitate a significant crisis as the individual seeks to adjust to the impact of the event. But what of the professional who in some settings faces death almost every week, if not every day? How does he or she cope with this abnormal exposure and still manage to maintain a professional role? Death is universal and will come to us all and to those we care about at some time. We know this intellectually, but we may well try to defend ourselves from the emotional impact of personal death or the death of someone close to us.
