Events in March will focus on ethical issues in health care

The Office of the Vice Provost for Health will host two public events on March 25 that focus on the ethical issues surrounding conscientious objection in health care.

• An afternoon conference, "'You Want Me to Do What?' When Values Collide in Health Care," will run from 1-5 p.m. in the Eberhard Center, on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. 

Presenters are Bryan Pilkington, associate professor, Seton Hall School of Health and Medical Sciences; Caroline Ring, chief nursing officer for Spectrum Health Big Rapids and Reed City hospitals; Michael Robinson, assistant professor of philosophy, Chapman University; and Megan VerMerris, senior counsel for Spectrum Health.

Cost to attend the afternoon conference is $45; register online at gvsu.edu/colloquy. 

Poster presentations from area students and faculty will be displayed during the conference. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts on any health related topic, faculty posters should be about a health care ethics topic. Deadline to submit an abstract is March 1, visit gvsu.edu/colloquy for details.

The conference is presented in collaboration with Spectrum Health.

• The DeVos Medical Ethics Colloquy, with the focus "The Ethics of Conscientious Objection in Health Care," follows a 5 p.m. hors d'oeuvres reception and will run from 6-8 p.m. in the Eberhard Center.

Presenters are Nancy Berlinger, research scholar at the Hastings Center, and Lauris Kaldjian, director of bioethics and humanities at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine.

A special meet-and-greet with colloquy speakers is scheduled for students from 5-5:30 p.m. Students should register for this meeting on the colloquy website; faculty members who wish to bring a class can contact Diane Dykstra at [email protected] or (616) 331-5876.

The colloquy, underwritten by the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, is free and open to the public. It will be live-streamed, participants who register online at gvsu.edu/colloquy and indicate "live stream" will receive a link prior to the event.

Continuing education credits are available for both events for social work, nursing and medical professionals. Questions about the events can be directed to Dykstra at [email protected] or (616) 331-5876.