1300 SE Stark St. Portland, OR 97214
Videos of the February 2023 conference sessions are available at this link.
You can view the videos without cost. As of June 2, 2023, nurses, social workers, and physicians will be able to obtain continuing education credits by taking a pre-video-quiz, watching the videos, and taking a post-video-quiz. See this link for details.
Welcome Reception: February 16, 2023, Thursday, 7 to 9pm.
Arium Ballroom at The Jupiter NEXT Hotel
900 East Burnside St., Portland, 97214
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St. Portland, OR 97214
Day one: February 17, 2023. Friday
7:30 to 8:45: Doors open for registration, continental breakfast, meet colleagues, find seats before 8:45 start of conference.
8:45 to 8:50 (5 min): Housekeeping
8:50 to 9:00 (10 min) Welcome/Introduction
Peg Sandeen, PhD, MSW
CEO, Death with Dignity
Conference Co-chair
9:00 to 9:50 (50 min) Keynote — Some Myths about Aid in Dying
Lonny Shavelson, MD
Chair, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Conference Co-chair
9:50 to 10:10 (20 min) State Differences — Present and Future Legal Considerations
Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, Ph.D., HEC-C
Health Law Professor and Bioethicist
Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota
10:10 to 11:05 (55 min) Hospices and Aid in Dying — A land of many journeys
Presenter/Moderator: Thalia DeWolf, RN, CHPN
Hospice nurse
Director of Nurse Education, American Clinicians Academy on Aid in Dying
Panel:
Lisa Stolarczyk, MD
High Desert Hospice, New Mexico
Hope Wechkin, MD
Evergreen Hospice, Washington.
Deborah North, MD
Hospice of the Northwest, Washington
Pamela Brown, RN
Eden Hospice, Montana
Gregg VandeKieft, MD
Palliative Care /Hospice
Providence St. Peter Hospital
Olympia, Washington
11:05 to 11:30 (25 min) Break. Refreshments.
11:30 to 12:25 (55 min) Prognostic Dilemmas in Aid in Dying
Presenter/Moderator:
Kelly McCann, MD, PhD. Medical Oncologist
Assistant Professor, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles
Prognostic evaluations for cancer patients receiving targetted/advanced therapies
Panel:
Lynette Cederquist, MD
Palliative Care, University of California San Diego Health
A look at the diversity of situations in prognostic evaluations
Stephanie Marquet, MD
Hospice East Bay, Pleasant Hill, California
The differences and similarities between a hospice prognosis and an aid-in-dying prognosis
Katalin Roth, MD, JD.
Professor, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine,
GW Medical Faculty Associates. Washington, DC
Prognostic evaluations for the extreme elderly
12:25 to 1:25 (60 min) Lunch
1:25 to 2:20 (55 min) Medical Aid in Dying for ALS: Navigating Complexities from Prognosis to Ingestion
Presenter/Moderator: Kara Bischoff, MD
Palliative Care. University of California San Francisco
Panel:
Christina Vaughan, MD
Neuropalliative Care. Associate Professor, Neurology. University of Colorado School of Medicine
Ryan Spielvogel, MD
Core Faculty, Sutter Family Medicine Program, Sacramento, California.
Medical Director, Sutter End of Life Option Act Services
Deborah Armstrong, JD
New Mexico. Co-author, Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act
Audra Hindes, MS
Vice President, Care Services. ALS Association Golden West Chapter
2:20 to 3:15 (55 min) Clinician Attendance on the Aid-in-Dying day — Doctors, nurses, volunteers, end-of-life doulas, hospice staff
Presenter/Moderator: Chris Fruitrich
Volunteer, End of Life Washington
Volunteer Systems Advisor, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Panel:
Janie Rakow
End-of-Life Doula. New Jersey
Director of End-of-Life Doula Education, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Cofounder, FareWell Doula
Gabrielle Jimenez, LVN, CHPLN
Mission Hospice, California
Nurse, End-of-Life Doula, educator, author
Joel Rosen, MD
Family Medicine, Santa Fe Mobile MD, New Mexico
Ani Sinclair, MA
Volunteer, End of Life Choices Oregon; Educator; Team Leader
3:15 to 3:40 (25 min) Break. Refreshments.
3:40 to 4:35 (55 min) The Pharmacology of Aid in Dying, and a Red Flags Update
Carol Parrot, MD End of Life Washington
Lonny Shavelson, MD American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
4:35 to 5:30 (55 min) Ethical Challenges of Aid in Dying: Case discussions by members of the Ethics Consultation Service, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Moderator: Jeanne Kerwin, DMH, HEC-C
Consultant in Bioethics and Palliative Care
Former Member, New Jersey State Advisory Council on End-of-Life Care
Panel:
Constance Holden, RN, MSN
Chair, Ethics Consultation Team, Boulder Community Health, Colorado
Margaret Pabst Battin, PhD, MFA.
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine
Center for Health Ethics, Arts and Humanities, University of Utah
Yvette Vieira, MMH, HEC-C
Manager, Palliative Care and Bioethics, Atlantic Health System, New Jersey
Charles Miller, MD.
Medical oncologist, Internist and geriatrician.
Member, Board of Directors, Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology.
Director of Kaiser Hawaii Aid-in-Dying Program.
Case 1: A patient pursues Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) to be able to meet eligibility for aid in dying
Case 2: Should a patient be required to relinquish aid-in-dying medications if the provider believes they no longer meet eligibility for aid in dying due to a change in life expectancy (greater than 6-month prognosis)
Case 3: Navigating Conflict Between Professional Nursing Commitments to Patients and Institutional “Leave the Room” Policies
5:30 to 5:35 (5 min) Close Day 1
Various evening activities, to be announced
Meetings of Networking Groups, to be announced
Day 2: February 18, 2023. Saturday
7:45 to 9:00 Doors open. Continental breakfast courtesy of Completed Life Linitiative. Meet colleagues, find seats before 9:00 start of first presentation.
9:00 to 9:55 (55 min) Keynote: Race, Religion, and Spiritual Considerations in Aid in Dying
Presenter/Moderator: Terri Laws, PhD
Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, Race and Health
University of Michigan—Dearborn
Panel:
Tracey Bush, MSW, LCSW
Regional Practice Leader, End of Life Option Act Program, Kaiser Permanente, Southern California
9:55 to 10:50 (55 min) Capacity and Judgment Evaluations for Patients Considering Aid in Dying
Presenter/Moderator: Thomas Strouse, MD
Psychiatry, Hospice and Palliative Care, University of California, Los Angeles
Professor, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Panel:
Jonathan Treem, MD Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Brieze Bell, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Palliative Medicine, University of California San Francisco
10:50 to 11:20 (30 min) Break. Refreshments.
11:20 to 12:15 (55 min) Nursing Care: Evaluating, informing, following, attending
Presenter/Moderator: Thalia DeWolf, RN, CHPN
Nursing Education Director, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Panel:
Elizabeth Stanton MSN/Ed, RN, CEN, CCRN (ret)
Co-founder, Compassionate Endings New Jersey
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Andrew Holland, RN
Revisit Nurse, Hospice East Bay
Pleasant Hill, California
Richard Width, RN
Hospice Case Manager
Morristown, New Jersey
Pamela Brown, RN
Eden Hospice
Bozeman, Montana
12:15 to 1:15 (60 min) Lunch
1:15 to 2:10 (55 min) Grief Support after Medical Aid in Dying
Panel:
Sally Thomae, MSW
Aftercare Support Contractor, End of Life Washington
End of Life Doula and Coach
Joe Reynolds
Bereaved spouse of medical-aid-in-dying participant
Joy Rodriguez, End-of-Life Doula
Burden Lifters of Honolulu
Leader, aid-in-dying bereavement group. Hawai’i
Leilani Maxera, MPH, LCSW
Therapist & Death Worker, Kaipuokaualoku. Hawaiʻi
Clark Tyler
Bereaved spouse of medical-aid-in-dying participant, Kauiʻi, Hawaiʻi
2:10 to 3:05 (55 min) Socially-Challenging Settings and Circumstances — homeless and impoverished; family conflicts; skilled nursing and long-term care facilities.
Presenter/Moderator: Ellen Wiebe, MD
Clinical Professor, University of British Columbia
Panelists/Case Presenters:
Rebecca Hudson, Masters of Health Advocacy
End of Life Washington
Tracey Bush, MSW, LCSW
Regional Practice Leader, End of Life Option Act Program, Kaiser Permanente, Southern California
Ryan Spielvogel, MD
Core Faculty, Sutter Sacramento Family Medicine Program. California.
Medical Director, Sutter End of Life Option Act Services
3:05 to 3:35 (30 min) Break. Refreshments.
3:35 to 4:30 (55 min) Medically Challenging Cases: Complex gut function; Self-administration by oral, rectal, PEG and ostomy routes.
Presenter/Moderator: Lonny Shavelson, MD; Thalia DeWolf, RN, CHPN
Panel, case presentations:
Gaja Andzel, MD. Endocrinologist and aid-in-dying physician. Loma Linda, California
Mark Apfel, MD. Palliative care and aid-in-dying physician. Boonville, California.
Lisa Stolarczyk, MD. High Desert Hospice, and aid-in-dying physician. Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tin Do, MD. Emergency and Aid-in-Dying Physician. San Francisco, California
Joanna Hooper, MD. Family Practice. Taos Whole Health, New Mexico
4:30 to 4:45 (15 min) Closing comments
Peg Sandeen, PhD, MSW. Death with Dignity. Conference Co-chair
Lonny Shavelson, MD. American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying. Conference Co-Chair
Various evening activities, to be announced
Meetings of Networking Groups, to be announced
Curriculum Committee:
Lonny Shavelson, MD. Committee Co-chair. California.
Peg Sandeen, PhD, MSW. Death with Dignity. Committee Co-chair. Oregon.
Ryan Spielvogel, MD. Core Faculty, Sutter Sacramento Family Medicine Program.
Medical Director, Sutter End of Life Option Act Services. California
Thalia DeWolf, RN, CHPN. Director of Nursing Education, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in dying. California.
Janie Rakow, End of Life Doula. Director of Doula Education, American Clinicians Academy on Medical aid in dying. New Jersey
Chris Fruitrich, Volunteer. End of Life Washington. Volunteer Systems Advisor, American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying
Amy Yoffe, LCSW. Access TLC Home Hospice, California
Julie Hertl, MSW, LICSW. Kaiser Permanente, Washington