Medical Ethics: The Catholic Perspective (2007)

Abstract

"Medical Ethics: The Catholic Perspective is a series of ten 25-minute programs introduced by Dr. Daniel Sulmasy and designed to provide the Catholic Church's position on important medical ethics issues. Msgr. Robert Thelen presents the Church's position on each issue supported by the comments of five nationally recognized ethicists. In addition, the programs feature roundtable discussions of the topics by panels consisting of physicians, medical residents, medical students, nurses and pastoral care directors. The programs in this series should not be thought of as ends in themselves; rather, each 25-minute program (5 programs on each of the two discs) should be used as a starting point for an interactive discussion of the topic. Think of each program as a trigger to start the discussion with your peers. Additional resources on each topic can be found on the series website: http://www.pastcomm.org." [description taken from the DVD case] Disc One: 1) informed consent; 2) beginning of life care; 3) end of life care; 4) persistent vegetative state [PVS]; and 5) clinical research. Disc Two: 6) organ donation & transplantation; 7) abuse issues; 8) impact of pregnancy on medical situations; 9) patient wishes vs. medical judgement; and 10) prioritizing care & balancing the healthcare budget. Faculty members are Rev. Msgr. Robert Thelen, STL; Sidney Callahan, Ph.D.; Kevin Fitzgerald, S.J., Ph.D.; John Collins Harvey, M.D., Ph.D.; Kevin O'Rourke, O.P., J.C.D., S.T.M.; Edmund Pellegrino, M.D. Introduced by Daniel Sulmasy, O.F.M., M.D., Ph.D., Chair, John J. Conley Department of Ethics, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, New York, New York.