An Interactive Conversation About the State of the Art, the Life of the Practitioner and the Care of Patients and Families
Moderator - Cheryl Erwin, JD, PhD, JD, Center for Ethics, Humanities and Spirituality, Texas Tech University School of Medicine
Panelists -
Janetta Tansey, MD, PhD, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Virtue Medicine, Iowa City
This session focuses on the appeal to virtues that form habits of behavior and character. This approach emphasizes that discerning what is right conduct is a manifestation of first practicing the habits of human flourishing, for oneself and in community. As a contemporary approach to our inquiry, virtue ethics draws from a number of secular and wisdom traditions to identity affective and intellectual dispositions which, when practiced intentionally and for their own sake, facilitate wisdom in any number of day-to-day questions, opportunities, or challenges. The metaethical commitment of traditional Virtue Ethics is that human flourishing is both good and right. The process of discerning specific goods and acting in accordance with them is a consequence of first practicing the habits of human flourishing, both for oneself and as a participant in community, so that when facing novel or difficult circumstances in which there is not a clear or existing rule on what ought to be done, one’s disposition to perceive what is good gives ready guidance. The habits of human flourishing are called virtues, and the practice of such habits is the cultivation of a good disposition or character. Sometimes referred to as character ethics, Virtue Ethics emphasizes that emotions and reasoning can be shaped to incline towards what is good and right, and this gives the moral life its greatest potency.
The panelists will present individual perspectives on the need for virtue in medicine, drawn from their own professional experiences. Following a brief introduction of the theme by the moderator Dr. Erwin will address the State of the Art in Professional Identity Formation; Dr. Tansey will discuss the Life of the Practitioner; and Dr. Nussbaum will address and respond to the Care of the Patient’s Family. Audience participation will then be invited, with a considerable amount of the allowed time devoted to this activity. The panelists’ presentations will be 15 minutes in length each. A focus on interactive conversation will be maintained throughout the session with the goal being to have the widest possible contributions to the discussion. The panelists’ presentations will build on each other, serving as an introduction to the audience participation.
This panel presentation serves as an opportunity for the conference participants to engage in a lively and interactive conversation about the relevance of virtue in the contemporary life of psychiatry and the patient experience.
Panelists -
Janetta Tansey, MD, PhD, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Virtue Medicine, Iowa City
This session focuses on the appeal to virtues that form habits of behavior and character. This approach emphasizes that discerning what is right conduct is a manifestation of first practicing the habits of human flourishing, for oneself and in community. As a contemporary approach to our inquiry, virtue ethics draws from a number of secular and wisdom traditions to identity affective and intellectual dispositions which, when practiced intentionally and for their own sake, facilitate wisdom in any number of day-to-day questions, opportunities, or challenges. The metaethical commitment of traditional Virtue Ethics is that human flourishing is both good and right. The process of discerning specific goods and acting in accordance with them is a consequence of first practicing the habits of human flourishing, both for oneself and as a participant in community, so that when facing novel or difficult circumstances in which there is not a clear or existing rule on what ought to be done, one’s disposition to perceive what is good gives ready guidance. The habits of human flourishing are called virtues, and the practice of such habits is the cultivation of a good disposition or character. Sometimes referred to as character ethics, Virtue Ethics emphasizes that emotions and reasoning can be shaped to incline towards what is good and right, and this gives the moral life its greatest potency.
The panelists will present individual perspectives on the need for virtue in medicine, drawn from their own professional experiences. Following a brief introduction of the theme by the moderator Dr. Erwin will address the State of the Art in Professional Identity Formation; Dr. Tansey will discuss the Life of the Practitioner; and Dr. Nussbaum will address and respond to the Care of the Patient’s Family. Audience participation will then be invited, with a considerable amount of the allowed time devoted to this activity. The panelists’ presentations will be 15 minutes in length each. A focus on interactive conversation will be maintained throughout the session with the goal being to have the widest possible contributions to the discussion. The panelists’ presentations will build on each other, serving as an introduction to the audience participation.
This panel presentation serves as an opportunity for the conference participants to engage in a lively and interactive conversation about the relevance of virtue in the contemporary life of psychiatry and the patient experience.