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Doctors die, just like the rest of us. What's surprising is not how much medical care they demand, but how little.Once one gets past the initial inclination to avoid the topic, the end of life is a subject of fascinating and important stories, ideas and explorations. We've collected a few videos, audios and articles that we find particularly interesting. If you're aware of a story you'd like to share, let us know.
Frontline explores the intersection of life, death, medicine and what matters in the end.TED Talks
In La Crosse Wisconsin, almost everyone plans for their death. Not coincidentally, La Crosse spends less for end-of life care than any other place in the country.
The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death, by Stephen Cave
Philosopher Stephen Cave begins with a dark but compelling question: When did you first realize you were going to die?
Thinking about death is frightening, but planning ahead is practical and leaves more room for peace of mind in our final days. Judy MacDonald Johnston shares five practices for planning a good end of life.Death Cafes
Books
Life That Doesn't End with Death, by Kelli Swazey
Being Mortal
by Atul Gawande
Extreme Measures, Finding a Better Path to the End of Life, by Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD
The Conversation, A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care, by Angelo E. Volandes, MD
Talking about Death, by Virginia Morris
Last Rights, Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System, by Stephen P. Kiernan
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi, MD
Before Forever After - When Conversations about Living Meet Questions about Dying, by Helena Dolny
“Am I Dying?” The honest answer, by Matthew O'Reilly
O’Reilly describes what happens next when a gravely hurt patient asks him: “Am I going to die?”
The federal government has spent billions helping doctors and hospitals digitize patients lives, but there are still many holes in our electronic records including a big one: We can't list end-of-life wishes.Resources
In Tana Toraja, weddings and births aren't the social gatherings that knit society together. In this part of Indonesia, big, raucous funerals form the center of social life.Audio
Changing the Way We Die
by Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel
Let's Talk About Dying, by Peter Saul
Video
A Final Farewell: Your Personal Guide to End-of-Life Issues
by Nancy Lawson
At a Death Cafe, people, often strangers, gather to eat cake, drink coffee and discuss death. Their objective is "to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives." A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It's a discussion group rather than a grief support group or counseling session.What makes life worth living in the face of death, by Lucy Kalanithi
In this deeply moving talk, Lucy Kalanithi reflects on life and purpose, sharing the story of her late husband, Paul, a young neurosurgeon who turned to writing after his terminal cancer diagnosis.
Articles
Websites
Peter Saul asks us to think about the end of our lives - and to question against the modern model of slow, intubated death in a hospital.Prepare for the End of Life, by Judy MacDonald Johnston
We turn to doctors to save our lives. But when it comes to the critical question of what to do when death is at hand, there seems to be a gap between what we want doctors to do for us, and what doctors want done for themselves.