UAMS Event April 17 to Feature End-of-Life Expert BJ Miller, M.D.

By Susan Van Dusen

“Not Whether, But How: An Evening with BJ Miller” is set for 6:30 p.m. April 17 at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. Although there is no cost to attend, seating is limited and preregistration is required at cancer.uams.edu/bjmiller.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and concessions will be available for purchase.

BJ Miller, M.D., a palliative care physician from San Francisco, began his “formal relationship with death” at age 19 when he was involved in an accident that resulted in the amputation of one arm below the elbow and both legs below the knee.

Drawing on his expertise as a physician, a patient and the former executive director of Zen Hospice Project, Miller is an advocate for a health care system that maximizes quality of life and minimizes unnecessary suffering.

His TED Talk titled “What Really Matters at the End of Life” has garnered more than 8 million views and ranks among the most viewed talks online. He encourages his listeners to reorient and reframe our relationship to the inevitable and brings creative power and meaning-making to death.

This event is hosted by the UAMS Division of Palliative Medicine and funded by a grant from the Dorothy Snider Foundation in recognition of National Healthcare Decisions Day.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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