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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the author in Chapter 12, “The Hippocratic philosophy of medicine declares that nothing should be more important to a physician than” what?

2. Virology is a sub-specialty of what scientific study?

3. The author claims in the Epilogue, “We live today in the era not of the art of dying, but of the art of” what?

4. Robert DeMatteis was desperately afraid of what, according to the author in Chapter 11?

5. Approximately when was Hippocrates born?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are most often the immediate causes of death in cancer patients, according to the author in Chapter 10?

2. Why is understanding the finite quality of life important, according to Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland?

3. What is the central message in Chapter 12? How is hope related to this message?

4. What is stated regarding the statistics of suicide in Chapter 7?

5. What did Dr. Nuland conclude of his decisions regarding his brother’s care in Chapter 11?

6. What does Dr. Nuland suggest regarding the works of William Osler and Lewis Thomas in Chapter 7?

7. How do accidents, suicide, and euthanasia differ from other causes of death, according to the author in Chapter 7?

8. How are viruses spread? What does the author use as an example in Chapter 9?

9. How much money goes into the study of HIV, according to the author in Chapter 8? What have been the results of those studies?

10. How is the progression of AIDS described in Chapter 9?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author’s case study of the woman with breast cancer presented in the Introduction. What are the fears that are illustrated in this example regarding death? What caused the woman the greatest concern about her mother’s passing? How did Dr. Nuland address these fears?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the impact of the electrocardiogram on modern medicine and treatment. What developments have been made in the past 20 years? What other tests are commonly used today to detect heart muscle damage? How effective are each of these diagnostic tests?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the seven primary causes of death among the elderly, as presented in Chapter 4. Which of these causes is number one? Have the statistics for these causes changed since the publication of the book? According to the author, these seven causes will kill what percentage of the elderly population?

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