Sep 14, 2008 -- Miraculous advances in recent medical treatments have raised many ethical and halakhic [Jewish law] dilemmas, particularly concerning end of life. Yeshiva University (YU) Student Medical Ethics Society (SMES) will address these complex and sensitive issues at its third annual conference, entitled “The Sanctity of Life: A Jewish Approach to End-of-Life Challenges” on Sunday, September 14 from 9am to 3pm at YU’s Wilf Campus, 500 West 185th Street, New York, NY. SMES, a student run organization, was founded in fall 2005 with the guidance of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) to promote education and awareness of medical ethics at YU. Since that time, SMES has grown from a small group of students with common interests to a major campus organization running large-scale events and educational programming with university-wide participation. Their two previous conferences dealt with organ donation and fertility in Jewish law. With the help of prominent doctors, rabbis, psychologists, and social workers, the conference will explore various end-of-life topics, including decision making capacity, palliation of pain, hospice care, decisions not to treat, do not resuscitate orders, and organ donation. All the presenters have extensive professional experience dealing with end-of-life issues in their respective fields. “These are issues that all of us face, either as patients ourselves, family members or members of the community,” says Dr. Beth Popp, director of palliative care at Maimonides Medical Center. “Education about aspects of care for patients with serious illness is an important part of being able to handle these issues when we are faced with them.” Dr. Popp will speak from a medical perspective in the main session on adult end of life entitled “Moments That Matter.” The conference will also include a psychosocial discussion between Rabbi Kenneth Brander, dean of the CJF, and Rabbi Simcha Scholar, executive vice president of Chai Lifeline. By sharing from their own personal and professional experiences, the rabbis will discuss what is appropriate for parents, family and friends to do and say when faced with pediatric end-of-life challenges. “As an Orthodox Jew, religion plays a vital role in how I deal with medical issues on a daily basis,” says Dr. Stuart M. Greenstein, a professor of surgery and an attending surgeon at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “Rabbis and Jewish patients consult with me all the time. That’s why it is so important that the Jewish community is educated in these matters.” A Harvard graduate, Dr. Greenstein is one of only a few Orthodox transplant surgeons in the United States and will discuss organ donation at the conference. Student Avi Amsalem, who along with Rifka Wieder serves as co-president of SMES, hopes that the conference will encourage the greater Jewish community to think about medical ethics from a Jewish perspective. “The Student Medical Ethics Society is composed of a group of talented, motivated, hardworking students. We look to spread education in the realm of halakha and medical ethics not only on the Yeshiva campus but to other communities in the tri-state area and across the country.” The conference is open to the public but pre-registration is required. To register or for more information please visit us online at www.yu.edu/medicalethics or contact YUMedicalEthics@gmail.com.