AMA Journal of Ethics

Decision making in health care demands that we balance multiple considerations, like quality of life, statistics, and how different options could affect others. Dr Brian Zikmund-Fisher shares his own experience as a patient and explains how decision science can help us navigate ethically complex health decisions.  

Surgeon Dr Sara Scarlet and anesthesiologist Dr Patricia Doerr discuss their perspectives on surgeon-anesthesiologist relationships.

Editor in chief, Dr Audiey Kao, talks with Dr Matthew Wynia about allocation of critical care resources and clinicians' duty to show up to work during public health emergencies.

Dr Laura Guidry-Grimes helps us consider whether and which decisions can be shared with people experiencing mental illnesses.

Dr Sean C. McConnell provides an introduction to gene editing, and Scott J. Schweikart discusses what prudent governance requires.

Drs Katrina Bramstedt and Ana Iltis discuss the development of QoL assessment tools to help patient-subjects considering reconstructive transplantation.

Author Ryan Sallans discusses his experience accessing health care and suggests how to take good gynecological care of transmen.

Drs Christy Rentmeester and David Heymann discuss the ethical relevance of colonialism and deadly disease outbreaks.

Tara Montgomery and Dr Zackary Berger discuss how to address some health care cultures’ negative influences on service delivery and quality.

Dr James Van Arsdall shares his experience of sitting for a portrait after his treatment for oral cancer, and Dr Mark Gilbert describes how he came to do portraiture in clinical settings.