Practicing Specialties:

• Palliative Medicine, Board Certified, 1997

Medical School:

• SUNY Upstate Medical University 1973

Residency:

• Medical College of Virginia Hospitals 1975

Fellowship:

• National Institutes of Health 1978

Clinical Interests:

Medical and psychological management of symptoms and issues associated with incurable disease, usually with a prognosis of two years or less.
Management of symptoms related to incurable disease including pain, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, intestinal obstruction, delirium and confusion, constipation, nutritional issues, and appropriate hospice referral issues.
Patient and family discussions and decisions regarding incurable disease issues.

Related Interests:

Pain:
Providing educational programs for health care providers on topics including pain, ethical issues in pain management, pain assessment and management, cancer pain management, advanced pain management.
Palliative medicine:
Establishing a comprehensive palliative medicine program, breaking bad news and other difficult communication issues, ethical issues in pallliative medicine, symptom management at the end of life, artificial hydration and nutrition, overview of Hospice, death pronouncement workshop for house staff, artificial hydration and nutrition, psychosocial conferences, palliative and supportive medicine case discussions
Providing educational programs for the community (the public as well as local college students) in end-of-life issues
Promoting interactions between generations within the community
Encouraging non-financial legacy work and discussion of difficult end of life issues such as treatment options and advance directives.

Professional Memberships:

• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine - Fellow

Hospital Affiliations:

• Geisinger Medical Center
• Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center
• Select Specialty Hospital - Danville, PA