Video: What it’s like to provide assisted dying for the first time

Many recent documentaries and magazine articles have delved into what it’s like to support a family member who’s accessed their right to assisted dying.

But fewer have explored what it’s like for the handful of doctors and nurse practitioners in Canada who are involved in providing medical assistance in dying (MAID). Their insights provide another side to the story, and they are essential to our understanding of how the right to assisted dying is changing the way Canadians experience the dying process.

At Dying With Dignity Canada’s annual general meeting in May, we had the privilege of sitting down with a number of MAID providers who were in attendance to get their thoughts about what it’s like to be involved in this important field of practice.

One of the questions we were most eager to ask was, perhaps, an obvious one: “What was it like to provide medical assistance in dying for the first time?”

As you’ll see in the video below, their answers were rife with wisdom, emotion and touching anecdotes. Their responses make the following perfectly clear: not only are these pioneering physicians transforming Canada through their participation in MAID, but the experience has been transformational for them as individuals, too.

We extend our deepest thanks to Dr. Stefanie Green, Dr. Jonathan Reggler, Dr. Ellen Wiebe and Dr. Jean-Roch Lafrance for participating in this video.