Clinical Ethics Consult Elective

Ethics consults are an important service provided to the patients and staff at Yale New Haven Hospital by the Adult and Pediatric Ethics Committees. Consults are generally requested when there is a difficult ethical question related to care options, and/or when there is disagreement among patients, families, and healthcare providers regarding the appropriate course of action. The consults may be provided by an individual ethics consultant, a small group, or a larger committee, depending on the specifics of the case at hand.

Students will participate in approximately four clinical ethics consultations, initially shadowing and observing, and later providing input and helping to write up clinical documentation. Clinical ethics consultations typically address some of the hospital’s most medically, legally, and socially complex cases in which there is uncertainty or disagreement about how to proceed. The ethics consultation service facilitates discussion between patients, family members, and clinicians in an attempt to identify a consensus around a course of action, and to provide guidance based on ethical principles and healthcare system policies.

Faculty Director: Benjamin Tolchin, MD, MS