BEMIDJI, Minn. — Two members of the North Country Health Services ethics committee will use and analyze recent situations to examine the role medical ethics plays in the decision-making process within a healthcare setting during a 10 a.m. presentation Tuesday, April 14.
The 90-minute session is part of the spring Academy of Lifelong learning lecture series and will be held at the Bemidji State University Center for Research and Innovation, located at 3801 Bemidji Avenue North.
During the program, Dr. Bill Dicks, family practice physician, and Mark Papke-Larson, North Country chaplain, will describe the complex dilemmas that create a clash between what health care providers can actually do and what is expected of them.
Conflicts arise as expectations in the ability of medical science to cure illnesses and save and extend lives collide with the indisputable fact that, at some time, everyone dies. Even as the advancing capabilities of modern health care are praised, there are justifiable fears that this same system may make dying a difficult and excruciatingly slow process.
“I found that when the issues come from a number of different perspectives, there often is a way to untie the ethical knot,” Papke-Larson said of the values he and Dicks bring to the question. “As a physician and a chaplain, we approach these issues from quite different perspectives.
“What we plan to do is describe several very difficult situations that have developed as a result of our heightened expectations as to what modern healthcare can actually accomplish, our difficulty in clearly communicating complex information during emotionally charged situations, and the oddities of our individual personalities. We plan to use these situations and work backwards to unpack how they developed and how we might learn from them.”
Dicks, who has specialized interests in pain management, exercise and sports physiology, received his training at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis and served his residency at the Hennepin County Medical Center.
Papke-Larson completed his master’s of divinity at Wartburg Theological Seminary and was ordained as Evangelical Lutheran Church in America clergy. For the past 16 years he has served as a chaplain for North Country Regional Hospital and North Country Hospice.
Coming Up
The spring 2009 ALL lecture series will continue April 21 with local businessman Chris Keenan describing the annual humanitarian aid trip to Honduras undertaken by Bemidji area residents.
The Academy of Lifelong Learning offers humanities-based programs made possible in part with private donations and support from Bemidji State University. Individuals who wish to be added to the ALL mailing list or have questions about this program should contact the Bemidji State University Center for Research and Innovation at (218) 755-4900; toll free, (888) 738-3224; e-mail, cri@bemidjistate.edu; or at http://www.cri-bsu.org.
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
April 14 – 10 a.m. – Bemidji State University Center for Research and Innovation hosts Academy of Lifelong Learning lecture on the ethics of medical decisions. Presenters: Dr. Bill Dicks and Mark Papke-Larson, North Country Regional Health Services. Location: CRI; 3801 Bemidji Ave. N., Bemidji, Minn. Cost: free. For information: (218) 755-4900; (888) 738-3224; http://www.cri-bsu.org.