Program #889 • Available Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ through Saturday, May 18, 2013

Death Just Isn’t What It Used to Be

 

Program Description

Controversy in diagnosing death has a long history, but the essential difficulties have not changed for hundreds of years. A major source of confusion in understanding death is the mixing of the definition of death—a decision about when life has ended—with criteria and tests used to assess when death has occurred. What is it that shifts human beings from alive to dead—lack of sentience? Lack of personhood? Cessation of all spontaneous biological activity? Departure of the soul? In this video, Dr. James Kirkpatrick revisits the concept of death. He traces the historical difficulties in diagnosing death, reviews the current controversies and criteria—cardiopulmonary versus neurological—for determining death, discusses the legal and ethical issues surrounding organ harvesting, and explores the inherent problems with making the diagnosis of death a matter of personal choice.

(30 minutes)

Credit Information

Up to 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

This activity is designed for internists, hospitalists, emergency medicine physicians, family physicians, hosptial physicians, oncologists, surgeons, and any other healthcare professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking part in this CME activity, participants should be able to:

CME Credit Designations

ACCME The Network for Continuing Medical Education (NCME) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA NCME designates this educational activity for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAFP This activity has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 0.5 Prescribed credit by the American Academy of Family Physicians. AAFP accreditation begins Saturday, May 18, 2013. Term of approval is for one year from this date, with option for yearly renewal.

AOA This activity is eligible for up to 0.5 hour of credit in Category 2-A of the American Osteopathic Association.