On Being a Doctor: Lessons From a Patient Named Fred

Speaker

Daniel Sulmasy, University of Chicago

About the Speaker

Dr. Sulmasy is the author of four books as well as more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles on medical ethics. He has served on numerous governmental advisory committees, and was appointed to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Problems by President Obama in April 2010. He also serves as the editor-in- chief of the journal Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics.

Trained as an internist and an ethicist with degrees from Cornell University and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Sulmasy’s research interests encompass both theoretical and empirical investigation of the ethics of such issues as end-of- life care and spirituality in medicine. He has done extensive work on the role of intention in medical action, especially with regard to the distinction between killing and allowing to die. He is also interested in the philosophy of medicine, the logic of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning and the spiritual dimensions of the practice of medicine.

Location

Fort Howard Theater, Bemis International Center, St. Norbert College

Start Date

11-5-2015 7:00 PM

Description

Dr. Sulmasy’s lecture will recount one physician’s account of caring for one patient, with an emphasis on the spiritual lessons which emerge from the seemingly mundane details of day-to-day medical practice. Through this single narrative, we will be invited to reflect on the meaning and importance of the patient-physician relationship, and the role of the patient as teacher.