For medical students and practitioners, Fins (medical ethics, medicine, public health, psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University) presents a volume on the theory and practice behind ethical and legal aspects of end-of-life care in an attempt to promote reform in the discipline. He discusses the history of palliative care and modern bioethics, legal concerns about death and dying, hospital care, and clinical aspects such as consultations, communication, decision making, medical developments, managing symptoms, and individual approaches to working with patients. He provides information on his Goals of Care Assessment Tool, printed in the appendix, and uses it to demonstrate care strategies in the second section. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Tags: palliative ethics care