Abstract
Speaking as the concluding lecturer at the March 1995 ?How We Die Conference? (based on Sherwin B. Nuland?s book of the same title), noted physician-ethicist William G. Bartholome, M.D., M.T.S., shares reflections on the development of the death and dying movement (early and contemporary phases). He urges that greater efforts must be made to offer primary care physicians training in death and dying and palliative care. In very intimate reflections, Bartholome looks to the future of death and dying (?getting real? as he says) based on his own experience of life while facing death from terminal cancer. As a medical resident, Bartholome was involved in the classic case (1971) of the baby with Down?s Syndrome and an esophageal atresia who died after the parents decided not to surgically correct the latter defect to permit the baby to eat. He continued to contribute to the field even through his own illness.
