Dr. Michael Combs, a Resident Physician at the University of California in Los Angeles, shares survey results in the July 2013 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, which indicates a large proportion of U.S. physicians desire to honor surrogate decisions based on the patient's wishes, even in cases when such decisions are not in the patient's best interest. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/mcbqkbq

Download from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/advanced-care-planning-acp/id431848... . Advanced care planning is not about giving up, emphasizes Katherine Pisters, M.D., professor in Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, and Donna Zhukovsky, M.D., professor in Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, both at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Rather, it’s a way for cancer patients to tell their loved ones what’s important to them as they approach the end of life. MD...

Download from itunes: http://bit.ly/VjNLcp . The time has come to say, “Your cancer is terminal and you need to get your life in order.” Who has this difficult job and how can they help ease the pain? David Hui, M.D., medical director of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, and Chaplain Steven Thorney, are part of MD Anderson’s Supportive Care Center. Here they help patients get their physical and emotional symptoms under control and work with them to establish end-of-life...

Dr. Keith Swetz, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester discusses his article Ethical Decision Making With End-of-Life Care: Palliative Sedation and Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatments, which appeared in the October 2010 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Available at: (http://tinyurl.com/29kmb7u).