TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethics consultation on a gynecologic oncology service
T2 - An opportunity for physician education
AU - Schlumbrecht, Matthew P.
AU - Gallagher, Colleen M.
AU - Sun, Charlotte C.
AU - Ramondetta, Lois M.
AU - Bodurka, Diane C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health T32 Training Grant T32CA101642.
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - The purpose of this study is to understand the features of gynecologic oncology patients who receive ethics consults in order to identify areas for physician education and improve patient care. A review of ethics consults for gynecologic oncology patients from 1993 to 2008 was performed. Information on all gynecologic oncology patients treated during the study interval was also collected to define a base population for comparison. Forty-one consults were performed. Compared to the base population, a greater proportion of consult patients had pregnancy-related malignancies (7.9% vs. 0.8%, p<0.0001) and were African American (33.3% vs. 10.9%, p<0.0001). The most common clinical case types involved identifying levels of appropriate treatment. Support of the health care team and complex family dynamics were key underlying issues. Ethics consultation provides a substantial resource in identifying relevant issues experienced by gynecologic oncology patients upon which physician educational initiatives may be based.
AB - The purpose of this study is to understand the features of gynecologic oncology patients who receive ethics consults in order to identify areas for physician education and improve patient care. A review of ethics consults for gynecologic oncology patients from 1993 to 2008 was performed. Information on all gynecologic oncology patients treated during the study interval was also collected to define a base population for comparison. Forty-one consults were performed. Compared to the base population, a greater proportion of consult patients had pregnancy-related malignancies (7.9% vs. 0.8%, p<0.0001) and were African American (33.3% vs. 10.9%, p<0.0001). The most common clinical case types involved identifying levels of appropriate treatment. Support of the health care team and complex family dynamics were key underlying issues. Ethics consultation provides a substantial resource in identifying relevant issues experienced by gynecologic oncology patients upon which physician educational initiatives may be based.
KW - Ethics education
KW - Gynecologic oncology
KW - Post-graduate curricula
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U2 - 10.1007/s13187-010-0154-2
DO - 10.1007/s13187-010-0154-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 20835927
AN - SCOPUS:79959511466
SN - 0885-8195
VL - 26
SP - 183
EP - 187
JO - Journal of Cancer Education
JF - Journal of Cancer Education
IS - 1
ER -