Dr Myrick C. Shinall, Jr joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “Aren’t Surgery and Palliative Care Kind of Opposites?”

Seeming incongruity between surgery and palliation reiterates patients’ needs for clinicians to be able to identify when and how they should coexist.

A lack of consensus guidelines or a belief that current evidence does not support such guidelines might be justified if a clinician expresses a commitment to patient-centered care and shared decision making.

Physicians should provide women considering abortion after Down syndrome screening with unbiased information and not attempt to influence their decision.

Physicians should accommodate patients’ religious or spiritual understanding of suffering, even when they disagree, as long as they uphold their commitment to health. Both physicians and chaplains, who promote patients’ spiritual well-being, should respectfully challenge patients when necessary.

Trauma care presumes informed consent for treatment, but resident supervision is required within a training structure of graduated responsibility.

A patient’s refusal of tracheostomy during an anticipated difficult intubation prompts critical questions about how to best express respect for a pediatric patient’s autonomy and whether and when deviation from standard of care is clinically and ethically appropriate.

In referring transgender patients for medical transition, clinicians should be guided by harm reduction, respect for autonomy, and continuity of care.