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22 February 2006

Beyond Symptoms and Suffering:
Human Development Through the End of Life

Ira Byock, M.D., Palliative Medicine, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, and Palliative Care Services, Missoula, Montana

Leslie J. Blackhall, M.D., M.T.S., Internal Medicine and Palliative Care, UVA

What happens when we see the end of life as not simply a final illness requiring medical interventions but also as another stage in that person's formation as a human being? From long experience in hospice and palliative care, Ira Byock urges health professionals and other care providers to make room in the care of the dying for the fullness and completion of life.


Dr. Byock has been involved in hospice and palliative care since 1978. He helped establish a hospice home care program in Fresno, California; is past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; and in 1995 received the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s prestigious Person of the Year Award.
            Dr. Byock is a frequent workshop and keynote presenter at state, regional, national, and international meetings. He has written numerous articles on the ethics and practice of end-of-life care. He has served as chair of the Ethics Committee for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and continues to serve on the editorial boards of several professional publications, including the Journal of Palliative Medicine.
            Dr. Byock has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs, including “Letting Go: A Hospice Journey” (HBO), “Final Blessings” (NBC), “Nightline” (ABC), “Before I Die: Medical Care and Personal Choices” (PBS), and “All Things Considered” (NPR).   His essays have appeared in national papers, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal . His first book, Dying Well: The Prospect for Growth at the End of Life, earned the Natalie Davis Spingarn Writers Award from the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship.

Leslie Blackhall, M.D., M.T.S. is an associate professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medical Education (Biomedical Ethics and Program for Humanities in Medicine). She is a Medical Director at the Center for Geriatric and Palliative Care and Coordinator for Research at the Center for Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Blackhall received her B.S. in biology from Yale University and her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine.
            Following residency and fellowship training in General Internal Medicine, she received her Masters of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School, w here she studied cross-cultural and historical aspects of medical ethics. She a nationally known expert on the care of dying patients and has spoken to physicians and other health professionals across the country on the practical, ethical, and spiritual aspects of death and dying. Her research has focused on doctor-patient communication at the end of life, and includes a study of the attitudes of differing ethnic groups towards death and dying.

Co-presented with the Central Virginia Palliative Care Initiative