Ethics Talk

Evolving indications for last-resort life support technologies pose unique challenges. When should ECMO be started, and when should it be stopped? We spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Sonntag, Dr. Daniel Brauner, and Dr. Nicholas Braus about ECMO and end-of-life care.

What are key factors for successful partnerships between clinicians, health care organizations, and communities? This month on Ethics Talk, we discuss strategies for building trust and engaging effectively with Dr. Daniel Skinner, Dr. Berkeley Franz, Dr. Kelly Kelleher, and Robin Hacke.

As physicians interact more and more with AI in their clinical practices, how should medical education evolve? This month on Ethics Talk, we sit down with Dr. Kimberly Lomis and Christopher Khoury to discuss how educators can adapt to rapid change in an ethically complex field.

Undocumented patients are a vulnerable population, since they often lack access to health insurance and can be afraid to present for care. This month on Ethics Talk, we discuss challenges in caring for undocumented patients with Dr. Mark Kuczewski, Scott Schweikart, and Dr. Nancy Berlinger.

Labels commonly used in clinical settings, like "elective" or "therapeutic" influence how we think about the justifiability of abortion. We talk with Professor Katie Watson and Dr Maryl Sackeim about how the language clinicians use to describe abortion can affect patients' experiences and even cause harm.

In a special mini-episode of Ethics Talk, we explore the implications of a new proposed immigration policy that could have broad effects on immigrants' health with Dr. Rachel Fabi, explain why clinicians and students should consider submitting a public comment, and outline best practices for weighing in.

We live in a time when an array of information is available at the fingertips of anyone with access to a computer, but more information doesn't necessarily mean more understanding. False beliefs about health care can be quickly and widely perpetuated online, with serious consequences. This month on Ethics Talk, we spoke with Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Dr. Albert Ko, and Dr. Diane Griffin about why it's important for clinicians to respond to health care-related false beliefs and how they can do so effectively.

When patients look for strategies to improve their overall health, diet and nutrition are often a logical place to start—after all, what we consume has enormous impact on our susceptibility to disease and disability. But health care professionals don't always have the time or expertise to address nutrition effectively in a clinical encounter, and might not know how to respond to broader issues around food availability in their community. This month on Ethics Talk, we talk about why clinicians should care about food ethics and what they can do to address nutrition in clinical and community settings. Our guests were Dr. Jessica Fanzo, Dr. David Katz, and Haley Swartz.

The National Institutes of Health recently launched their "All of Us" Initiative, with the goal of compiling detailed health profiles of 1 million Americans. Gathering so much sensitive information raises important ethical questions about consent, privacy, and inclusivity. This month on Ethics Talk, we discussed strategies for protecting participants and ensuring that diverse communities are represented. Our guests were Dr. Katie Johansen-Taber, an expert on precision health issues, and Ysabel Duron, a community representative on the All of Us Institutional Review Board.

In acute care settings, it can be challenging for clinicians to treat patients who might benefit from minimal interventions as the end of their lives approach. They also might not know how to help families make the most of remaining time with loved ones, or begin a transition from hoping for more life to mourning and grieving immediately following someone's death. This month on Ethics Talk, we spoke with Helen Chapple, a professor at Creighton University and expert in end-of-life issues, and Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and author, about what it might mean for clinicians and health care systems to fully acknowledge dying as something that can be done in a healthy way.