Last Wish: Stories to Inspire a Peaceful Passing Paperback - 2012

Dr. Van Scoy currently serves as Chief Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow at Drexel University College of Medicine where she also completed her medical school, residency and Chief Residency years. Early on in her medical residency years, Dr. Van Scoy developed an interest in critical care with a focus on end-of-life issues. Facing critically ill patients on a daily basis in the intensive care unit, she found herself developing a deep emotional attachment to her patients and their families as she participated in their care during the end of life. She was drawn to her sickest patients and found great professional and personal satisfaction in caring for these patients during their most dire hours. She wrote Last Wish and developed KnowYourWishes.com as a platform to help future patients and their families prepare for inevitable end-of-life decisions and challenges. Her research work is focused on creating innovative tools to supplement traditional advance directives and assist patients and families through the process of end-of-life planning. Previous research work, which was funded by the Drexel University Aging Initiative Research Grant, centers around how factors such as race, gender and disease entity impacts end-of-life decisions and quality of death and dying in the ICU. Dr. Van Scoy has presented her research at several international meetings. Dr. Van Scoy grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and attended college at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her husband live in Center City, Philadelphia.