Encounters in Bioethics Mentoring Program

In our mentoring program, both principal speakers and panel members participating in the Encounters in Bioethics discussions have the opportunity to consult with our in-house ethicists in preparing for each presentation. This, as well as the discussion of the actual presentation, is part of our mentoring service. In discussing ethical issues faced on the front line every day, the CHCE Encounters in Bioethics series provides health care professionals with a forum in which they can step back and actually do research in biomedical ethics. The Encounters in Bioethics Mentoring Program is designed to help with, and cast light on, these implicit research efforts. It can also provide an ethicist to work with presenters and panellists on a continuing basis, should they decide to do more in-depth research on the subject, and develop, for example, a publishable paper, or an extended workshop on the issue(s). Our Mentoring Program is intended to encourage front line health care professionals to hone their skills as budding bioethicists. For example, the founding director of our CHCE, Dr. Jaro Kotalik, as CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Cancer Centre confronted so many ethical issues on the job that he decided to deal with them full time and travelled to England to do graduate work in bioethics at the University of London.