My Decision, My Way Out, My Time: Choosing to Die With Medical Aid

Dr. Cara Santa Maria joins us to speak about the process of utilizing the California End of Life Option Act, legislation which allows eligible patients to hasten death with medical aid. She shares insights gleaned from research participants who shared about their experience in their final days, weeks, and months.

Dr. Cara Santa Maria is a clinical health psychologist, science communicator, podcaster, and Emmy Award-winning journalist. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Social Justice and Diversity from Fielding Graduate University in 2023. Cara's doctoral dissertation was an existential-hermeneutic phenomenological investigation into the psychological experience of electing to die with medical aid. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Patient and Family Support Program of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in 2025. She also holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, an M.S. in Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience, and a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy.

Cara is the creator and host of the weekly science and social justice podcast Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria. In addition to co-hosting the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, she coauthored the Skeptics Guide to the Universe book and coedited the recent release, Pseudoscience in Therapy: A Skeptical Field Guide. Cara was a founding member of the Nerd Brigade and cofounded the annual science communication retreat #SciCommCamp.

Previously, Cara hosted, co-hosted, or was a correspondent and/or reporter on several television series, including Brain Games, Explorer, and Brain Surgery Live on National Geographic Channel; Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix; SoCal Connected and SoCal Update on PBS; TechKnow on Al Jazeera America; Real Future on Fusion; Hacking the Planet and the Truth about Twisters on The Weather Channel; FabLab on Fox; and TakePart Live on Pivot.

Admission: $10, or FREE for CFI Members. Membership is $60/year. Find out more and join here: https://cfiwest.org/donate/
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