Physician/Patient Relationship a Necessary Covenant
INDIANAPOLIS - Ethics in medicine is often more about the journey than
it is the destination, largely because of the relationship that forms
between the physician and patient.
"Physicians constantly are surrounded by ethical issues when they
make decisions regarding their patients' care, and sometimes the questions
they find themselves asking are more important than the answers or results
they get," said the Rev. James Stender, speaking to students and
faculty attending the Indiana University School of Medicine "Ethics
at Lunch" program.
The Washington minister's visit to the campus was a homecoming for two
reasons. He is a former campus minister for the medical school and Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis - and was responsible for helping
launch the "Ethics at Lunch" 20 years ago. It started as "brown
bag" gathering of Stender and students to discuss a variety of issues
in medicine.
Stender, a Lutheran minister from Vancouver, Wash., described the doctor/patient
relationship as a necessary covenant, a mutual trust requiring physicians
to be more attentive when communicating with patients. Clear communication
builds on that trust, he added.
"Doctors have been given a lot of information and knowledge by virtue
of their education and training, and people like me look to you as the
technical experts and the teachers who will make us understand about our
health and decisions affecting our treatment," Stender said.
Stender's presentation was part of the Bioethics Today: Discourse
and Dialogue, a series of presentations in October on the Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis and IU-Bloomington campuses.
Today, the "Ethics at Lunch" program is overseen and organized
by IU School of Medicine students with guidance offered by faculty. The
organization meets and eats about 18 times during the academic year, providing
a forum for debate and discourse on current medical ethical topics. For
more information about the program, go to
http://msaa.iusm.iu.edu/organizations/soealtxt.html.
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Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
Tel: (317)274-7722
Email: jstutevi@iupui.edu
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