2007 SF International Center for Healthcare Ethics

Course participants in the March 2007 Ethics Consultant Training Course.

Ethics Consultants Course: Practical and Comprehensive

The "Becoming an Ethics Consultant" Training Course was held on March 5-9, 2007 at the Hawaii Medical Center East, sponsored by The St. Francis International Center for Healthcare Ethics. Attendees of the intensive 5-day training course included 10 physicians out of the total 18 participants who came from California, Singapore, and Oahu. The course reviewed basic principles for understanding ethical issues in the clinical setting and offered hands-on consultant training at the bedside.

One of the course highlights was a CME presentation on "Should Family Members be Present during a Code 500?" Panelists included 4 physician/scholars from Singapore, University of California San Diego Medical School, Brown Medical School (Providence, Rhode Island), and John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. S.Y. Tan moderated the discussion. The week concluded with a graduation ceremony and reception attended by Dr. Danelo Canete, HMC CEO, Cathy Tanaka, HMC COO, and Sister Agnelle Ching, SFHS, CEO.

Some of the participant comments included, "The conference was excellent." "The staff was friendly." "The course was well planned and moved along well." Others commented about the mock case scenarios: "Excellent role play. Makes the case scenario come alive!" "Very practical and applicable." All success was due to planning and organization of Director S.Y. Tan, MD, JD, and co-director, Susan Hashimoto.

Participants were provided hands-on experience in conducting ethics consultations with simulated patients/families. Cindy Kisor, RN, and Father Joseph Specht were actors in the case called "Refusal of Beneficial Treatment."