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Published on January 04, 2013

Getting the Best Care During the End of Life

Addressed by Physician Specialist

Dr. Ira Byock, Speaker at 2012 Spiritual Care Seminar
Ira Byock, M.D.

Ira Byock, M.D., director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., will focus on “Getting the Best Care Possible Through the End of Life” in the 12th annual spiritual care seminar. Hosted by MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland, the free event will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m., on Thursday, Jan. 17, in the Little Theater of Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 Saint Andrews Street, Midland. Health care professionals, clergy and interested community members will gain valuable information about end of life care. Nursing and social work continuing education units will be available.

According to Dr. Byock, the best care through the end of life is highly individualized, and optimal care requires family, community care and love. During the seminar, Dr. Byock will feature a variety of stories and examples that will reveal practical ways of getting the best care for one another and loved ones.

A professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dr. Byock has been involved in hospice and palliative care since 1978. At that time, he helped found a hospice home care program for the indigent population served by the university hospital and county clinics of Fresno, Calif. During the 1990s he was a co-founder and principal investigator for the Missoula Demonstration Project, a community-based organization in Montana dedicated to research and transformation of end-of-life experience. From 1996 through 2006, he served as director for Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care, a national grant program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Dr. Byock has authored numerous articles on the ethics and practice of hospice, palliative and end-of-life care. He has been a featured guest on numerous national television and radio programs, including NPR: “All Things Considered,” “Talk of the Nation,” and “On Being,” as well as “60 Minutes,” “Fox and Friends,” and the PBS “The News Hour” program.

Dr. Byock’s book “The Best Care Possible” will be available for purchase at the conference. Registration for the event is requested. Those who would like more information or to register may call MidMichigan Health Line at (989) 837-9090 in Midland or toll-free at (800) 999-3199. This program is financially supported through gifts made to the Spiritual Care Fund at the Medical Center in Midland.