What is the UK Bioethics Program
What is a Bioethicist?
Bioethicists are not "moral experts" but persons who have some moral expertise. Bioethicists are professionals from a range of backgrounds (philosophy, law, religion, medicine, nursing, sociology, social work, education, etc.) who help healthcare providers "do the right thing" by looking at tough situations in medicine from various angles and perspectives, and then providing some guidance for all involved.
Most university teaching hospitals have bioethicists on staff for private consults, as well as holding regular hospital ethics committee meetings to discuss hospital policy and cases.
You may request a consultation with a bioethicist to help you make decisions about your care, or help to explain your options.
What is a Bioethics Consult?
A bioethics “consult” request simply means that you request to meet with a bioethicist. The bioethicist will usually meet with you alone or, if you prefer, with your family members, friends, or any other support person present.
We offer consults for both clinical ethics and research ethics.
Education
We provide a variety of bioethics education programs to the UK clinical enterprise in the form of grand rounds for CE credit, graduate medical education (GME) or other activities including:
- Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds
- Research Ethics Lectures and Seminars
- Schwartz Rounds®
- The Moral Distress Education Project
- Bioethics on Film
For non-clinical departments at UK, bioethics presentations and seminars are also available.
To schedule these activities, please contact the Program Director by e-mailing m.sararosenthal@uky.edu or calling 859-257-9474.
Formal bioethics courses
Bioethics faculty teach courses through the Office of Medical Education as well as graduate courses in the College of Medicine. Contact the Program Director for more information.
Moral Distress and Moral Residue
Recognizing the negative impact of moral distress and moral residue on healthcare providers, and ultimately health care, we have developed a tool to help you better understand and manage moral distress: the Moral Distress Education Project. In addition to explaining causes and possible outcomes of moral distress, we also offer potential solutions, recognizing that moral distress cannot be completely eliminated in health care. We hope you find this tool useful and would appreciate your feedback about it.