Dr Christy Cauley joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Zara Cooper: "Which Priorities Should Guide Palliative Surgical Research?"

Calls to expand palliative care education have been explicit since the 1990s, but palliative care training in surgery remains too narrowly focused on end of life.

Priorities far beyond generating morbidity or mortality data are needed to improve patients’ experiences, innovate metrics, and advance surgical palliation as a field.

A just culture perspective suggests that punitive responses to those who err should be reserved for those who have willfully and irremediably caused harm.

Long-term care facilities should assess residents for capacity to consent to sexual activity and be prepared to accommodate sexual intimacy.

Physicians need to help surrogate decision makers to make treatment and end-of-life decisions for those with severe neurological damage by proving a realistic prognosis and maintain strong lines of communication.

Racial and ethnic inequity exists throughout the lifespan, including at the end of life.