Advance directives in an academic setting: what should residents be taught?

In this paper I wish to introduce a short description of the US medical educational system and show how various types of Advance Directives can be used in the educational process. The danger is that these documents will become one more thing to be gotten out of the way so that no real discussion takes place. In summation, many academic teaching hospitals, and their faculty are asked to teach residents and students about advance directives, but it is often done in a formulaic way, because the nature of the doctors, the patients, and the medical care system impede true inquiry into the fundamental question which makes an advance directive valuable and legitimate: how can we help this person either live or die in a way that is both medically feasible and closest to their desires?