COURSE DESCRIPTION: 

Baptist Health South Florida – Conversation in Ethics Lecture Series 2026

The Conversations in Ethics series will focus on patient care and mortality, emphasizing the importance of honoring patient autonomy, individual values, and quality of life. Commonly referred to as Goals-of-Care (GOC) or Advance Care Planning (ACP) discussions, these conversations aim to ensure that medical decisions and interventions align with a patient’s wishes—particularly in the setting of serious or life-limiting illness.

This course examines best practices, communication strategies, and ethical frameworks that enable clinicians to conduct compassionate, effective, and ethically sound GOC and ACP conversations. Emphasis is placed on navigating emotionally complex situations while maintaining respect for patient dignity and professional responsibility.
 

TARGET AUDIENCE: 
Physicians, Psychologists, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Social Workers, Respiratory Therapists, Clinical Chaplains, Pharmacists, Medical Students, Registered Dietitians, Social Workers and all other interested healthcare professionals

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Patient-Centered Approach: Describe how to center goals-of-care discussions on what matters most to the patient—focusing on their values, priorities, and definition of quality of life rather than relying solely on clinical checklists or assumed goals.
• Empathetic Listening: Demonstrate effective communication skills by sitting with the patient, listening attentively, and allowing space for silence and reflection, recognizing that the clinician’s role is to facilitate rather than direct the conversation. 
   

FACULTY & DISCLOSURE

Prof. Avraham Rivkind
Head of the Traumatology Unit
Hadassah University Hospital
Jerusalem, Israel

Jeanie L. Sauerland, MA, BSN, RN, HEC-C
Director of Ethics Services
University Health System
San Antonio, TX

Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, HEC-C
Law Professor & Bioethicist
Mitchell Hamline School of Law
St Paul, MN

Eduardo Martinez DuBouchet, M.D. 
Telehealth Center Medical Director, eICU, Transfer Center BHSF
Baptist Health South Florida 
Miami, FL 

Mark R. Mercurio, M.D. 
Executive Director of the Center for Pediatric Bioethics
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston, MA

Alfred Cioffi, STD, PhD
Florida Blue Endowed Chair in Bioethics and Director, Institute for Bioethics 
St. Thomas University
Miami Gardens, FL

Lori Bruce, DBe., MA, MBE, HEC-C
Research Scientist, Institution for Social & Policy Studies
Associate Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
Director, Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics
Director, Community Bioethics Forum, Program for Biomedical Ethics
Co-Director, Adult Ethics Committee
Yale University 
New Haven, CT

Matthew Wynia, M.D., MPH, FACP
Center for Bioethics and Humanities Director & Professor 
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO

Hannah I. Lipman, M.D., MS
Vice President, Bioethics  
Hackensack Meridian Health
Hackensack, NJ

Michael H. Shapiro, Esq. 
Professor of Law 
University of Southern California 
Los Angeles, CA
 

•    Faculty of this educational activity, have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies* to disclose, and has indicated that the presentations or discussions will not include off-label or unapproved product usage.

o    Prof. Avraham Rivkind
o    Jeanie L. Sauerland, MA, BSN, RN, HEC-C
o    Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD, HEC-C
o    Eduardo Martinez DuBouchet, M.D. 
o    Mark R. Mercurio, M.D. 
o    Alfred Cioffi, STD, PhD
o    Lori Bruce, DBe., MA, MBE, HEC-C
o    Matthew Wynia, M.D., MPH, FACP
o    Hannah I. Lipman, M.D., MS
o    Michael H. Shapiro, Esq.
 

•    Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan, M.D., director of this educational activity, has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies* to disclose, and has indicated that the presentation or discussion will not include off-label or unapproved product usage.
 

•    Moderators of this educational activity, has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies* to disclose, and has indicated that the presentation or discussion will not include off-label or unapproved product usage.
o    Driselle Sullivan
o    Vincent Barnovsky
o    Tammy Fecci
o    Cecilia Sone, MSN, FNP-BC 
 

*Ineligible companies – Companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Disclosure Policy and Disclaimer

ACCREDITATION
Baptist Health South Florida is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Baptist Health has been re-surveyed by the ACCME and awarded Commendation for 6 years as a provider of CME for physicians.

Baptist Health South Florida designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ each.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.   

This activity has been approved for 1 credit hours each, CE Broker Course #20-700581, by the Florida Boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine and Physician Assistants.

This activity has also been approved for 1 credits each for Nurses and Nurse Practitioners, Dietitians, Pharmacists and Techs and Respiratory Therapists.. Baptist Health South Florida CE Broker Provider #50-182.