Health Care Ethics Consultation Certification Course

This intensive 4-day training program is designed for practicing health care professionals who wish to develop healthcare ethics consultation knowledge and skills and as a refresher/preparation course for consultants pursuing Healthcare Ethics Consultation Certification (HEC-C) from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). The training will emphasize core knowledge areas and the four content domains for certification promulgated by the ASBH (assessment; analysis; process; and evaluation and quality improvement), and the supporting tasks for each.

This interactive training program will combine didactic sessions with hands-on exercises and attendance at UVA’s weekly Ethics/Moral Distress Consult Service meeting.

1. Methods of healthcare ethics consultation (including moral distress consultation) and their application in various health care settings;
2. Specific healthcare ethics consultation skills and knowledge (e.g., initial assessment, issues clarification, meeting facilitation, relevant health law, documentation in the medical record);
3. Common bioethical issues involving adult and minor patients (e.g., decisional capacity, shared decision-making, beginning and end-of-life decision making, potentially inappropriate treatment, and reproductive issues)
4. The use of standardized methods to evaluate ethics consultation quality.