KENNEDY INSTITUTE OF ETHICS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE PELLEGRINO CENTER FOR CLINICAL BIOETHICS
June 5-7, 2023
Georgetown University Main Campus
Monday 5 June
9:00-9:45 am REGISTRATION
9:45 am: Introduction & Welcome
John Keown, DPhil, PhD, DCL IBC Course Director Rose F. Kennedy Professor in Christian Ethics Senior Research Scholar Kennedy Institute of Ethics
10:00 am: “The Internal Morality of Medicine: Vital Concept or Quaint Relic?”
Myles N. Sheehan, SJ, MD Director, Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics Professor of Medicine David Lauler Chair in Catholic Health Care Ethics Georgetown University Director, Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
List the elements of Pellegrino’s concept of the Internal Morality of Medicine.
Describe contemporary challenges to the concept due to the way medicine is currently practiced.
Explain objections to the concept.
Develop your own position on whether the concept is vital or a quaint relic.
11:00 Break
11:30: SMALL GROUPS
12:30: Lunch
2:00 pm: “Disability & the Definition of Health”
Sean Aas, PhD Assistant Professor of Philosophy Senior Research Scholar Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Become aware of the main philosophical theories of health
Learn how to approach conversation about disability and health with sensitivity to and awareness of the perspectives of disabled patients
2:45 pm: “Complex Patients During Public-Health Crises: People Labelled with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities”
William F. Sullivan, MD, PhD Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Chair in Bioethics Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Explain how ‘autonomy’ is fundamentally ‘relational’;
Describe how ‘consent’ to a healthcare intervention involves realizing distinct and complementary decision-making capabilities, a key one being judging moral/affective facts; and
Apply a supported decision-making approach to cases to promote healthcare decision- making capabilities of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (PWIDD) by assessing risks, involving caregivers, and advocating for needed accommodations and supports
3:30 pm: Break
4:00 pm: SMALL GROUPS
5:00 – 6:30 pm: Opening Reception
Tuesday 6 June
9:00 am: “Autonomy”
Daniel P. Sulmasy, MD, PhD André Hellegers Professor of Biomedical Ethics Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Be able to distinguish between dignity, autonomy, and agency
Be able to explain how respect for autonomy is important for bioethics because it enhances human moral agency
10:00 am: “Organizational Integrity in Our Changing World”
Carol Taylor, PhD, RN Professor of Medicine and Nursing Senior Clinical Scholar, Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Define ethics, moral agency, and moral integrity
Describe how both individuals and institutions develop moral agency and integrity and the consequences of honoring or dishonoring integrity
Analyze how an institution’s mission, vision and core values influence institutional decision making, behavior and integrity
Contrast integrity-based and compliance-based organizational ethics programs
11:00 am Break
11:30 am: SMALL GROUPS
12.30 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm “Ethics Committees & Consultation”
Claudia Ruiz Sotomayor, MD, DBe Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine Chief, Ethics Consultation Service Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Understand the new challenges and trends of ethics consultation and ethics committees.
Analyze what resources are available to practice clinical ethics in different communities.
Formulate practical ways to implement new techniques in the participant’s practice.
2:45 pm: “Medical Interventions and End of Life Decisions”
Allen H. Roberts, II, MD, MDiv, FCCP, FACP Professor of Clinical Medicine and Associate Medical Director MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Understand the dynamics of patient and family interactions in the ICU
Identify the ethical issues surrounding withholding and withdrawal of life support
Appreciate the concept of biomedical futility in contemporary medical literature and practice
3:30pm: Break
4:00 pm: SMALL GROUPS
6:00 pm: Bioethics Movie Viewing and Discussion (optional session)
Laura J. Bishop, PhD Associate Teaching Professor and Academic Program Director Kennedy Institute of Ethics
Wednesday 7 June
9:00 am: “Data Ethics & Health Informatics”
Margaret Little, PhD Francis J. McNamara, Jr. Chair of Philosophy Senior Research Scholar Director, Ethics Lab Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Obtain a beginning orientation to the technical nature of Big Data and AI
Identify some key pros and cons to these new technologies in their application to health care
Identify some key criteria of responsible development, deployment, and use of these technologies
10:00 am: “Medical Mistrust”
Alyssa Newman, PhD Assistant Professor of Sociology Senior Research Scholar Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Identify the conceptual limitations of the mistrust framework for analyzing and explaining racial health inequities
Apply alternative frameworks that center the role of institutions to analyze ongoing racial health inequities
Leverage a Black bioethics perspective and analytical lens in order to reconceive the issue of medical mistrust and the relationship of Black communities to medical institutions
11:00 am Break
11:30 am: SMALL GROUPS
12.30 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm: “Quality of Life”
Joel Michael Reynolds, PhD Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Disability Studies Senior Research Scholar Kennedy Institute of Ethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Better understand the complex issues impacting quality and equity of care for disabled patients
Develop a critical, historically-informed understanding of the concept of “quality of life”
Appreciate the role of ableism in healthcare delivery and how to become actively anti- ableist
2:45 pm: “Neuroethics”
James Giordano, PhD, MPhil Chief, Neuroethics Studies Program Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics
SESSION OBJECTIVES:
Define neuroethics as a discipline and set of practices
Discuss major neuroethical issues arising in and from research in, and use of current and emerging neuroscientific tools and methods
Provide examples of how multinational efforts in the brain sciences can influence neuroethical discourse and practices
