End-of-life care is not a pleasant topic, and many of us choose to avoid discussing issues surrounding our own mortality. But there are certain realities of life. Aging, eventual illness and death are inevitable processes that cannot be separated from life. Yet we work very hard to avoid confronting this reality. Even when faced with an illness which will certainly limit the time we have left with our families and loved ones, most of us would choose to avoid the difficult conversations surrounding this topic. Unfortunately, this leaves us unprepared for the decision making that is necessary during critical illness.

This video, hosted by Mitchell Levy, MD, features many insights from prominent experts on end-of-life care. These individuals discuss the many complex decisions faced in the ICU and talk frankly about how we can better cope with end-of-life issues. They talk about the importance of advance planning, communication with physicians, answer questions surrounding the withdrawal of life support, discuss the issues of pain and symptom management and outline the goals of compassionate end-of-life care. It's our hope that we, as medical practitioners, can offer you some of the tools needed for dealing with life's most difficult transition.

From an educational grant provided by