The Medicine & Its Objects Workshop Presents:
“Managing Consensus and Dissensus in Palliative Medicine”
Timothy Elder | PhD Student, Sociology
Discussant: Lilly Lerer | MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
*Wednesday, October 27th from 4:30-6:00pm CT*
In-person (Cobb 219 ) & via Zoom
Please email Megan MacGregor (mmacgregor@uchicago.edu) or Anna Prior (priorah@uchicago.edu) to RSVP and receive a copy of the precirculated paper. Please also indicate whether you expect to attend virtually or in-person, so that we may send you Zoom information if appropriate.
ABSTRACT: The last several decades of medical history have been marked by a verbose emphasis on what is commonly dubbed ”patient autonomy”: placing in the hands of patients the authority to decide what and how much medical care they receive. Simultaneously, there have been significant changes in how healthcare is funded and paid for, with severe consequences for patient-physician interactions. At the same time that the input of patients in their medical care has become a priority the amount of time patients and physicians have to interact has significantly shrunk. Exacerbating these issues is the development of a host of medical technologies that can extend human longevity, while not explicitly addressing their quality of life. In this paper, I examine several of these issues by analyzing data from interviews with physicians specializing in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, commonly known as Palliative Care. In particular I will examine how these physicians are now central in the planning of medical treatment for patients suffering life-limiting and terminal illness, with particular emphasis on how they help to build consensus and how they manage dissensus when it occurs between patients and physicians.
This convening is open to all invitees who are compliant with UChicago vaccination requirements and, because of ongoing health risks, particularly to the unvaccinated, participants are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures (masking and social distancing, etc.) appropriate to their vaccination status as advised by public health officials or to their individual vulnerabilities as advised by a medical professional. Public convening may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.
