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Full title: The Language of Clinical Oncology: Lessons Learned in Two Decades of Communicating with Cancer Patients
February 2nd, 2022
Paul Helft, MD
This lecture is no longer eligible for CE.
Objectives:
1. Examine the biomedical and psychosocial context in which difficult communicative interactions occur in the care of cancer patients.
2. Locate specific ways of talking about complex and/or difficult issues in evidence-based contexts.
3. Debate more or less adaptive means of communicating about complex or nuanced concepts directly relevant to clinical cancer care.
Dr. Helft is a native of Indianapolis, and born at IU Health Methodist Hospital, Dr. Helft completed his undergraduate degree in general studies in the humanities and his medical degree at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. He then went on to complete his internship, residency, and fellowships in hematology/oncology and clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Helft joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2001, where he is currently the Allan S. Manalan and Diane K. Werth Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Helft is the author of more than 105 publications, and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Supportive Oncology, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, and Oncology.
Today’s lecture comes with an extra feeling of gratitude. Many of you know that we were scheduled to have this lecture in-person with a Celebration of Gratitude for Dr. Helft to follow – while the celebration has been postponed, we still want to express our gratefulness for Dr. Helft. Dr. Helft will be stepping down as the Director of the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics and VP of Clinical and Organizational Ethics as of March 1, 2022. In 2004, he became the first director of the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics and went on to build FCME and the Dept of Clinical and Org Ethics into what it is today. He developed all of its programs, including the Fairbanks Fellowship in Clinical Ethics and the Program in Nursing Ethics. Under his leadership we have seen 114 ethics fellows graduate! He has impacted so many lives through his work in clinical ethics that will leave a legacy. We are so thankful that he will continue as a faculty member of FCME and teaching some of our core sessions to our ethics fellows. He is not leaving IU Health, just transitioning away from his official role with us.
The Ethics Lecture Series is free and open to all. Continuing education credit is offered to physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and chaplains at no charge, regardless of their institutional affiliation. For additional information about the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics, please visit our website at www.fairbankscenter.org.
