UPDATE ARPIL 4: JOYCELYN ELDERS WILL BE UNABLE TO DELIVER HER KEYNOTE ADDRESS TODAY. HER FLIGHT TO WISCONSIN WAS CANCELLED.
RIPON, Wis. –In this election year, healthcare is on the lips of many a politician and on the minds of countless Americans. But while everyone else is bickering about universal coverage and degrees of federal oversight, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson will lead a veritable who’s who of healthcare in the United States to talk ethics at the annual Ripon College Ethics Conference.
Their keynote addresses at the April 4-5 conference will cap off a series of events related to the same topic and beginning March 25. Other participants include Daniel Callahan, director of the Hastings Center; Stephen Kiernan, author of Last Rights; and former Minnesota senator David Durenberger.
The conference theme will be “Health Care Costs, Coverage and Community,” with costs and coverage as the topical linchpin. Plenary addresses will raise the central questions for this conference in rigorous and challenging ways., followed by panels that will address end-of-life issues and health care in diverse communities as they impact our concerns about costs and coverage. All sessions will confront the problem of whether ethical leadership in health care is primarily the responsibility of caregivers, government or the public. The premise is that there are no simple answers to these questions but rather a need to balance the diverse demands, motives, and goals of the public, health care providers, insurers, government, and our communities.
“Ethical decisions with potentially serious consequences exist at virtually every stage of the healthcare process, so there are plenty of issues to discuss,” said Dr. David Seligman, director of the Ethical Leadership program at Ripon College which sponsors the event. “We’re very excited to have some of the nation’s most respected figures in healthcare involved. Since this is such a hot-button topic, we anticipate some very lively debates.”
Previous conferences have covered the media and sports, and have attracted such notable speakers as Tim Russert, Peggy Noonan, Bud Selig and Myles Brand. All conference and pre-conference activities are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.ripon.edu/ethics.
The full schedule of conference-related events is as follows:
Tuesday, March 25
Dr. Edmund Pellegrino: “Bioethics and Politics: Mixed Marriage or Shotgun Wedding?”
7:15 p.m., Great Hall, Harwood Memorial Union
Edmund Pellegrino, M.D. is the Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Ethics at the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Georgetown University Medical Center. During Dr. Pellegrino's 50+ years in medicine and university administration, he has been departmental chairman, dean, vice chancellor and president. He is the author of more than 550 published items in medical science, philosophy and ethics, and is a member of numerous editorial boards. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, the founding editor of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, and recipient of 47 honorary degrees (including one from Ripon College in 1982), in addition to countless other honors and awards. Research interests include the history and philosophy of medicine, professional ethics, and the physician-patient relationship.
Thursday, March 27
Advanced Public Speaking Class: “Ethics, Health Care and Today’s Student”
11 a.m.-noon, MLK Lounge, Harwood Union
Tuesday, April 1
Liberal Arts Symposium: “Illness Across the Curriculum”
11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Little Theater, East Hall
Thursday, April 3
Film screening: Michael Moore’s “Sicko” (faculty panel to follow)
7 p.m., Great Hall, Harwood Union
Friday-Saturday, April 4-5
Ethics in Health Care Conference
For a full conference schedule, visit www.ripon.edu/ethics.
About Ripon College
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Ripon’s liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. Ripon has been recognized as a “best value” and “Best 361 College” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s, and among the 160 best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction. For more information about Ripon College, visit www.ripon.edu. |
