Deciding for or against a life-prolonging treatment represents a choice between prolonged life and death. When the death alternative is not described, individuals must supply their own assumptions. How do people imagine the experience of dying? The authors asked 40 elderly people open-ended questions about dying without 4 common life-prolonging…

A successful seven-day course offered to third-year medical students is an integrated program for teaching them how to deal with terminal illness. The course uses lectures, audiovisual aids, and group and individual sessions to enhance self-awareness and practical application of the material in a clinical setting. (Author/MSE)

Discusses, in context of physician-patient relationship, workable model on advance directives for physicians to use with patients along with appropriate guidelines. Examines variables involved in establishment of guidelines for use by physician in office and inpatient settings. Identifies key management and clinical factors for initiating and…

Presents cubism as metaphor to think about medical humanities curriculum in medical school curriculum. Uses Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych," and Olsen's "Tell Me a Riddle" to illustrate how literary inquiry might enable medical students and other health care providers to think about…

Offers several of the author's (a pediatric oncologist) poems and reflections on his poetry in relation to his work with dying children. (SR)

Presents interview with Ralph Mero, Executive Director of Compassion in Dying, Seattle (Washington)-based organization that has brought new voice to controversial issue of physician-assisted rational suicide. Mero explains how his years as minister watching people suffer with cancer or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome led him to work for…

Describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a curriculum module on end-of-life care developed by medical students and implemented at Stanford University School of Medicine. The curriculum teaches students a protocol for communicating with patients when breaking bad news and discussing treatment options. (EV)

Examined medical school education on relating to terminally ill patients based on data from national surveys conducted in 1975, 1985, and 1995. The number of schools offering occasional lectures or short courses on death and dying increased from 80% in 1975 to 82% in 1985 to 90% in 1995. (MDM)

Considers Directive to Physician, Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions, and Medical Ethics Decision Form. Notes importance of process individuals go through in defining what quality of life means to them. Sees current struggle being individual articulation of one's wishes based on personal definition of quality of life set forth in…

This "gray paper" addresses the concerns of older women regarding their control over death and dying. It is based on the observation that older women are devalued by society on account of both their age and gender, and hence are likely to be impoverished and vulnerable as they approach death. The paper begins by examining the legal,…