STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Medical professionals today often face challenging ethical dilemmas and questions: What is the fundamental mission of the medical profession? Why must neither patient autonomy nor the healthcare professional's conscience ever be violated? To help equip medical professionals for these ethical battles, the Franciscan University of Steubenville Institute of Bioethics will host a conference from March 23-25. Titled "The Integrity of the Medical Profession and Contemporary Threats Against It," the conference will explore topics ranging from ethical patient-physician relationships to combating secularist threats to the medical profession.
Held at Franciscan University's campus in Steubenville, Ohio, six leading Catholic bioethicists will give presentations, and the conference will also include a series of interactive breakout sessions and panel discussions.
Dr. Helen Alvaré, JD, will present the keynote Henkels Lecture in Bioethics, "Religious Freedom and Sexual Liberationism," on Friday evening. Alvaré says, "We see practically the fallout of (sexual liberationism) in the world … less and later marriage, more divorce, et cetera. And with that comes a lot more sexual experimentation, a lot more depression, out-of-wedlock births, sexually transmitted disease, abortion and post-abortion distress, and a lack of sympathy and understanding of men for women and women for men."
An associate professor of law at George Mason University School of Law, Alvaré served as a lawyer with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, where she assisted the Holy See on family and women's issues and drafted amicus briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases on human life issues.
Conference host Dr. Patrick Lee, the John N. and Jamie D. McAleer Professor of Bioethics and director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University, will speak on "Defending Against Secularist Threats to the Integrity of the Medical Profession." Lee is the author of two books, Abortion and Unborn Human Life, and, with Robert P. George, Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics, as well as numerous scholarly articles and essays.
Other conference speakers include Dr. John Brehany, executive director of the Catholic Medical Association; Dr. Jorge Garcia, professor of philosophy at Boston College; Gregory Burke, MD, of the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.; and Daniel Iracki, MD, who works in critical care medicine and pulmonology in Pittsburgh.
Presented in conjunction with Allegheny General Hospital, this conference is approved for CME credits for physicians and psychologists and accreditation through the Ohio Nurses Association is pending. The conference begins at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 23, and ends at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 25. The cost is $310 per person for those who register before February 24, and $350 for those who register after February 24. An optional meal plan is available for an additional $95 per person. For more information, call 800-437-8368, or visit the conference Web page.