The Last Doctor: Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 WRITERS' TRUST BALSILLIE PRIZE FOR PUBLIC POLICY*

An urgently important exploration of the human stories behind Canada's evolving acceptance of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), from one of its first and most thoughtful practitioners.


Dr. Jean Marmoreo spent her career keeping people alive. But when the Supreme Court of Canada gave the green light to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016, she became one of a small group of doctors who chose to immediately train themselves in this new field. Over the course of a single year, Marmoreo learns about end-of-life practices in bustling Toronto hospitals, in hospices, and in the facilities of smaller communities. She found that the needed services were often minimal—or non-existent.

The Last Doctor recounts Marmoreo's crash course in MAiD and introduces a range of very different and memorable patients, some aged, some suffering from degenerative conditions or with a terminal disease, some surrounded by supportive love, some quite alone, who ask her help to end their suffering with dignity and on their own terms.

Dr. Marmoreo also shares her own emotional transformation as she climbs a steep learning curve and learns the intimate truths of the vast range of end-of-life situations. What she experiences with MAiD shakes her to her core, makes her think deeply about pain, loneliness, and joy, and brings her closer to life’s most profound questions.

At a time when end-of-life care and its quality are more in the public eye than ever before, The Last Doctor provides an accessibly personal, deeply humane, and authoritative guide through this difficult subject.

JEAN MARMOREO is a doctor, writer, advocate, athlete, and adventurer. She is a specialist in end-of-life medicine and was one of the first doctors in Canada to provide MAiD—Medical Assistance in Dying—when it became legal in 2016. Jean was a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail and The National Post.

JOHANNA SCHNELLER is one of North America’s leading freelance journalists, specializing in entertainment features. Her cover stories have appeared in Vanity Fair, InStyle, Premiere, More, and Ladies Home Journal. Johanna co-wrote the bestselling book Uncontrollable with Mark Towhey and Woman Enough with Kristen Worley.