The Academy extends the work of these conferences, informing and educating clinicians about medical aid in dying, from clinical discussions to evidence-based knowledge, from nursing care to the work of volunteers at the bedside, from medical ethics to pharmacology, and more.
22% of the U.S. population now has access to medical aid in dying, so it has become a significant part of terminal patients’ end-of-life options. Patient requests to consider medical aid in dying as one option at the end of life have motivated clinicians to seek knowledge about best clinical practices.
Yet before the Academy’s clinical expertise and trainings, doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, clinical ethicists, pharmacists, hospices and more were providing this care without formal training or information sharing about everything from prognoses to pharmacology, from the role of hospice teams to evaluations of decision-making capacity, or what “self-administration” means in the real world.
a Clinicians Hotline to provide expert consultations in response to urgent requests by all clinicians facing complex bedside decisions about medical aid in dying.
Unlike many medical academies, the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying does not have specially-privileged members. We advocate open and accessible information, so all clinicians and interested parties are welcome to every aspect of the Academy’s work.
The Academy is funded by generous donations from patients and their families, aid-in-dying clinicians, and end-of-life organizations. We welcome all donations to support our efforts and services.
