Thalia DeWolf, RN, BSN, CHPN, PHN is a hospice and palliative care nurse in Northern California, devoted to providing attentive care to terminally ill patients until their last breath, no matter how they die. She has supported many patients as they considered medical aid in dying, and been at the bedside of many who ultimately self-ingested the aid in dying medications and died. This professional commitment once resulted in her termination, as she refused to abandon a choking patient during the administration of medication during an aid in dying procedure. She continues to call upon hospice providers to fully support those who chose Medical Aid in Dying, by allowing the presence of all staff members to be in the room if that is the request of the patient and family. In addition to her fieldwork, she is the Director of Nursing Education at the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying.

Jeanne Kerwin, D.MH, HEC-C is a leader and speaker for clinical ethics and medical humanities throughout New Jersey and nationally. She worked in acute care hospitals doing ethics consultations for over 30 years, and has served on multiple State and national committees addressing end-of-life care. She is a national consultant/educator on health care ethics and the development of institutional ethics committees. She is currently Co-Chair for the Ethics Consultation Service for the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying, working with ethics consultants across the US. Dr. Kerwin holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in Medical Humanities from Drew University, a Certificate in Bioethics from Columbia University and is a Scholar in the Palliative Care Education and Practice program from Harvard Medical School.

Jean Abbott, MD, MH is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician who has been a faculty member at the University of Colorado since the inception of Emergency Medicine at CU in 1985. She is currently retired from EM practice but remains a member of the University of Colorado Hospital Ethics Committee. For 20 years she was a lead ethics consultant at UCH. She has lectured regionally and nationally about ethics and professionalism issues in emergency medicine and other clinical practice settings through the Center for Bioethics and Humanities. For 6 years she wrote and led the ethics content for the CU Palliative Care Certificate and Master’s Program. She still teaches and facilitates Advance Care Planning conversations through community presentations.