My Journey

Welcome!

My name is Natalie King, and I am a Catholic wife, mother, and physician, who through my work and life experience have felt called to share the joy and beauty I have found in caring for people going through serious illness and at the end of earthly life.

During my pre-medical and medical studies, my faith deepened, and I discerned a professional vocation to serve God through the practice of medicine. I specialized in palliative medicine and once my training was complete, I worked several years in a hospital setting, where I would also come to lead my hospital’s ethics committee and teach medical trainees. Two months after I started, physician assisted suicide passed into law where I was living. It really made me examine what this would mean for me as a Catholic, as a palliative medicine physician, and honestly, as a human being. I was ultimately prompted to get further education to help me manage some of the issues I was facing, and I obtained a master’s degree in bioethics.

I often think of images like a sunset or the leaves in fall for the beauty I witness in my work in palliative care. For the most beautiful time time in a sky is at the end of the day, when the light of day is about to be extinguished. The most beautiful time for a leaf is when it is about to fall. Likewise, I have the privilege to witness people in the richness of their personhood as they are nearing the end of their earthly life. It is so beautiful!

Over the last decade, I have helped speak at conferences and to parishes, seminaries, and groups of medical professionals on palliative medicine and common medical and ethical challenges around the end of life. I share the teachings of the Catholic Church and how they practically apply to healthcare issues. I want to shed light and understanding on difficult topics often avoided and to provide education on pro-dignity, pro-life alternatives to physician assisted suicide or euthanasia. A book I wrote on these topics is called Intensive Caring: A Practical Handbook for Catholics about Serious Illness and End-of-Life Healthcare.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this site. May God bless you, and especially if you or a loved one are going through a difficult health situation, please be assured of my prayers.