Supporting burn patients physically, psychologically, and emotionally during their recovery can be a challenge. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore how medical teams can ensure that patients are given the holistic care they need.

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.  

Labels commonly used in clinical settings, like “elective” or “therapeutic,” influence how we think about the justifiability of abortion. We talk with Professor Katie Watson and Dr Maryl Sackeim about how the language clinicians use to describe abortion can affect patients’ experiences and even cause harm.

Megan Chao Smith joins Ethics Talk to discuss their article, coauthored with Dr Shanda Demorest: “How Should Clinicians and Health Care Organizations Respond When Civic Planning Concentrates Waste Processing in Minoritized Communities?”

Dr Nat Mulkey and Dr Carl G. Streed Jr join Ethics Talk to discuss their article coauthored with Dr Barbara M. Chubak, "A Call to Update Standard of Care for Children With Differences in Sex Development."

Dr Anne Graff LaDisa joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Drs Erica Chou, Amy Zelenski, and Sara Lauck: “How to Use Improv to Help Interprofessional Students Respond to Status and Hierarchy in Clinical Practice.”

Dr Eric Plemons joins Ethics Talk to discuss facial feminization surgery and how clinicians can best support patient decisions about gender-affirming care.

Dr Joshua D. Safer joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Rebkah Tesfamariam: “How Should a Transgender Patient’s History of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Smoking Influence Gender-Affirming Health Decision Sharing?” 

Dr Adam T. Perzynski joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Kurt C. Stange: “How Should Clinicians Ally With Patients Whose Health Is Unlikely to Be Improved by Even Numerous Clinical Encounters?”

Dr Lisa M. Lee joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Anita L. Allen: "How Should Clinicians Own Their Roles as Past and Present Exacerbators of Health Inequity and as Present and Future Contributors to Health Equity?”