Palliative Medicine: A Case-Based Manual

Palliative medicine is the medical care provided for people who have a life limiting illness or condition. It encompasses both the physical symptoms a person may experience but also the psychosocial, emotional, and ethical issues that may arise.

Now in its fourth edition, Palliative Medicine: A Case-Based Manual walks clinicians through the management of the most common situations found in palliative medicine, from diagnosis and managing symptoms through to grief and bereavement. Using real patient case scenarios and an easy-to-read
question and answer format, it gives students and medical professionals an accessible, evidence-based entryway to gain the skills and knowledge needed to provide high quality palliative and end of life care to patients and their families.

This new edition has been fully updated to cover the latest guidance, including new chapters dedicated to medical cannabis, opioids, grief and bereavement, and wider issues including palliative care in the community, structurally vulnerable populations, and public health.

Written by over 50 experienced palliative care clinicians and educators, this book will be a welcome guide for palliative care workers, medical and nursing students, and medical professionals of any specialty where palliative needs might arise.


Author: Susan MacDonald
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 09/30/2021
Pages: 432
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.60lbs
Size: 9.81h x 6.78w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780198837008

About the Author

Susan MacDonald, Associate Professor of Medicine and Family Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Canada, Leonie Herx, Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Palliative Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Medical Director of Palliative Care, Kingston
Health Sciences Centre & Clinical Director of Palliative Care, Providence Care Hospital; Past-President, Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, Anne Boyle, Associate Clinical Professor McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada; Enhanced Skills Program Director, Division of Palliative Care,
Department of Family Medicine McMaster University; Co Head of Service Palliative Care, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton Ontario, Canada; President Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians

Susan MacDonald completed her nursing and medical training at McMaster University. She completed a residency in Family Medicine at Queen's University and two Fellowships in Palliative Medicine, one at the University of Alberta and the other at Harvard. She has worked as a consultant in palliative
care since 1999. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Family Medicine at Memorial University and had a very active role in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has won six teaching awards, including the CAME award of Merit. She was the President of the Canadian
Society of Palliative Care Physicians, and a member of the Canadian Council of Academies Panel on Advance Requests in MAID. She was awarded Founder's Status with the Royal College for her work in the development of Palliative Medicine as a Specialty.

Leonie Herx is Associate Professor and Division Head of Palliative Medicine at Queen's University. She completed her MD-PhD at the University of Calgary followed by Family Medicine and Palliative Medicine. Over the past 14 years, Leonie has been actively involved in growing and building the
discipline of palliative care at a national level. She co-founded the Royal College Subspecialty in Palliative Medicine and is now the Chair of the Royal College Specialty Committee for Palliative Medicine. She has been on the board of the Canadian Society for Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) for
over 8 years, just completing a 2-year term as President and is now Past-President of CSPCP. Leonie has contributed to many national initiatives including the development of the Framework for Palliative Care in Canada, a CSPCP staffing model for planning palliative care programs and co-leading the
development of a national set of competencies for palliative care for all postgraduate medical education programs.

Anne Boyle is President of the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, Associate Clinical Professor at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, and a palliative care physician. With roots in outpost nursing and family medicine, she has devoted her academic career to palliative care education.
In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Ottawa, they developed a Team Based Objective Structured Clinical Encounter tool (TOSCE) focusing on interprofessional education for undergraduate health sciences students and developed similar tools for primary care clinicians. Anne lead the
Canadian medical school palliative care undergraduate medical education competencies revamp and collaborated with the team creating the competencies for post-graduates. Anne and her colleagues have also developed curriculum for noncancer palliative care subspecialty education. She has spent the last
10 years working on The 3 Wishes Project and has enjoyed watching its philosophy of caring spread around the world.