When I introduced Issue 1 of the Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine in 2023, I wrote that we aid-in-dying clinicians had been working “in relative seclusion in our home medical communities — isolated by stigma, small numbers, and the newness of aid-in-dying care.” Our response to that isolation was, in part, to bring our community together at conferences, establish a medical academy, and launch the only US journal devoted exclusively to aid-in-dying medicine.
The entire enterprise was an experiment, with only a slim chance of survival. Now I can unequivocally say the experiment is over. Our community of aid-in-dying clinicians has succeeded. The Academy of Aid-in-Dying Medicine has become a thriving professional organization.
That success has provided the opportunity to rethink not only what we publish, but how we publish it. We’re delighted to launch Issue 3 of the Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine in an entirely new, continuously updated online format.
We’ll no longer wait to have 15 or so articles to bundle into an Issue. We’ll publish each article as soon as it’s ready — bringing you the latest clinical insights, scholarship, and discussions as they develop. We’ll feature the newest article at the top, with previous articles remaining readily available below.
The Journal will continue to publish clinically focused medical papers while expanding to include video articles, brief audio and video summaries, and timely news from our growing field of end-of-life care. Our established regular features will continue as well, including Thaddeus Pope’s Legal Corner, book and film reviews, poetry, photography, and artwork.
Our commitment to rigorous scholarship remains unchanged. But we present that scholarship in a style that welcomes rather than intimidates. Whether you’re an attending/prescribing or consulting clinician, neurologist, psychiatrist, hospice clinical staff, pharmacist, nurse, social worker, spiritual care provider, ethicist, or end-of-life doula — you’ll feel welcomed by our Journal.
And we hope you’ll note the foundation of our Journal’s design: Beauty invites understanding.
Welcome to Issue 3 of the Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine.
Lonny
Lonny Shavelson, MD Editor
The Journal’s Style — Clarity for Every Reader
You may notice that the Journal of Aid-in-Dying Medicine has a warmer tone than many medical journals. That’s intentional. We write for a broad audience — from physician specialists to the many professionals, volunteers, and caregivers who provide end-of-life care. Our goal is to make essential information equally accessible to every member of that team.
Our Journal is virtually acronym free. While authors may refer to the CIA or the IRS, they won’t tell you that a patient with ESRF caused by IDDM took MAID medications. Insider language serves only insiders. We avoid it whenever possible.
⠀ That brings us to MAID. The acronym is common among clinicians familiar with medical aid in dying, but many patients — and many healthcare professionals outside the field — don’t recognize it. One hospice patient finally interrupted a clinician’s repeated references to MAID by asking, “Why do you keep implying that my house is dirty?”
Writing or saying medical aid in dying instead of MAID takes only a moment longer, and is clearer to far more people. Our Journal does not use the acronym.
Finally, let’s settle the hyphen question. When the phrase is used as a noun, don’t include the hyphens: These medications are for aid in dying. When the phrase is used as an adjective, use hyphens: They are aid-in-dying medications.
•Kara Bischoff, MD, University of California, San Francisco. Medical Director, Outpatient Palliative Care Service
•Tracey Bush, MSW, Regional Practice Leader, End of Life Option Act Program, Kaiser Permanente, Southern California
•Lynette Cederquist, MD. Clinical Professor of Medicine, Director of Clinical Ethics Program and Medical Aid in Dying Program. University of California, San Diego
•Thalia DeWolf, RN, CHPN. Hospice nurse. Nursing Education Director, Academy of Aid-in-Dying Medicine
•Steve Heilig, MPH. Author and journalist. Co-founder, San Francisco End of Life Network. Associate Executive Director, Public Health and Education, Journal of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society. Commonweal, Senior Research Associate. Co-editor, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
•Constance Holden, RN, MSN. Ethics Consultation Service, Academy of Aid-in-Dying Medicine, Clinical ethicist, hospice nurse and administrator
•Jessica Kaan, DO. Medical Director, End of Life Washington. Hospice physician.
•Kris Kington-Barker. End-of-Life Doula. Host of Central Coast Voices radio. Prior Executive Director of Hospice of San Luis Obispo County
•Elissa Kozlov, PhD. Rutgers School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy
•Patrick MacMillan, MD. University of California San Francisco, Fresno Branch. Chief, division of Palliative Medicine, Professor of clinical medicine. Aid-in-dying physician.
•Jacqueline O’Neill, MD, University of New Mexico, Internal Medicine. Director of Aid-in-Dying Program
•Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, HEC-C. Health Law Professor and Bioethicist, Health Law Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota
•Katalin Roth, MD, JD. Professor, Geriatric Medicine, George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
•Monique Schaulis, MD, MPH. Permanente Medical Group, Northern California. Emergency and Palliative Medicine Physician. Aid-in-Dying Physician. Past-president, San Francisco-Marin Medical Society
•Ryan Spielvogel, MD. Sutter Health, California. Core Faculty, Sutter Sacramento Family Medicine Program. Medical Director, Sutter End of Life Option Services
•Thomas Strouse, MD. University of California, Los Angeles, Psychiatry and Palliative Care.
•Jonathan Treem, MD. Regional Director of Palliative Care and Hospice Medicine at the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group
