Ethical Issues in OB/GYN Inspire Board Service

Sandra Stites, MDBoard Chair, Center for Practical BioethicsMy first exposure to the Center for Practical Bioethics was as a guest at the Annual Dinner event with my husband, who is a physician at the University of Kansas. But it was my experience as an OB/GYN physician that really sparked my desire to get more involved. In my practice as an OB/GYN, and especially in OB, ethics comes into play from day one throughout pregnancy. I can remember one of my first patients decades ago, a senior at a local high school, who wasn’t allowed to graduate because she was pregnant. And with the growth of technology in medicine we now have sophisticated prenatal testing, which raises questions about what to do with the information, how it’s presented, how it’s perceived and who makes decisions about what happens. Then we get to birth. If delivery is premature or there’s a problem with delivery or birth defects, again, questions arise about how this is handled, perceived and who makes decisions.Lucky Kansas CityKnowing not only that there is help locally to address those types of situations but also of the Center’s national influence underscores how lucky Kansas City is to have this resource. Good friends, such as a former board chair of the Center, Cynthia Spaeth, advised me a few years ago that if I ever went looking for a place to devote my spare time, I should think about volunteering for the Center. I joined the Center’s board in 2...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care bioethics clinical ethics service OB/GYN syndicated Source Type: blogs