[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1611”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“USA Today”}}]]The work of Ira Byock, a Dartmouth Medical School professor and the director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, is featured in this USA Today article that discusses how patients are cared for at the end of their lives.

USA Today points to Byock’s forthcoming book, The Best Care Possible, a Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End Of Life, in which he writes, “Most doctors have been trained to treat diseases and not deal with end-of-life issues. American medical prowess is wonderful, but we have yet to make a person immortal. At some point, more disease treatment is not better care.“

Byock also calls for change in how doctors are educated, wanting to ensure that all physicians are trained in both hospice and palliative care. He is also an advocate for “letting patients guide their own care at the end of life.”

Read the full story, published 3/6/12 in USA Today.