N
San Diego surgeon and longtime
leader in the California Medical
Association. "Physicians, by their
nature, tend to file a lot of mag-
azines and books in the circular
file."
While the concept behind the
book is "very laudable," he adds,
the challenge is to persuade doc-
tors "to buy into it."
Dr. Sherry Braheny, a San
Diego neurologist who is chair-
woman .of the bioethics commit-
tee at Grossmont Hospital,
worries whether good, everyday
decision-making can be taught
this way.
Making ethical choices "is
something that's much bigger
than can be put into a book," she
explains.
"If somebody wants to write a
book about it, that's fine, but
that's like giving me a book about
trying to be a good person," Bra-
heny adds. "Do I read those kinds
of books? No, not usually."
As for the case studies them-
selves, the emphasis is on prac-
tical topics - managed health
care, referrals, mistakes, things
that come up every day.
The names in the book are fic-
tional. The cases are composites,
based on real-life examples the
authors have heard about or
seen, "with some amount of fic-
tion thrown in."
While Ethical Choices is aimed
at doctors, Snyder and her orga-
nization suggest that patients
also might find it interesting. If
nothing else, she believes, it gives
them a sense "of how, in fact,
physicians should be treating
theseissues and treating them."
"It's often a hard sell to get peo-
ple to think about the ethics of an
issue," Snyder concedes. "People
tend to sort of take it for granted
that, `I'm an ethical person, I'm
a good person, I'll do the right
thing.' By coincidence, that may,
in fact, happen some amount of
the time. But there are things
that you just can't intuitively
know."
While there may be few ab-
solutes in medical ethics, there
are some principles that should
be woven into any decision - do-
ing no harm, doing what's best
for the patient, the patient's right
of self-determination and fair
treatment.
For the 36-year-old lawyer,
medical ethicist and mother, Eth-
ical Choices is about taking prin-
ciples and theories and making
them real for each patient - and
for each physician.
"I guess, at the end of the day,
I believe that there is such a
thing as right and wrong," says
Snyder. "It can take an awful lot
of time to get there, but we need
to get there." ❑ •
Copley News Service
SW
Our Commitment To Jewish
Tradition Continues.
Although we're now part of the area's largest
health system, we haven't lost sight of our
dedication to Jewish traditions. Which is why
we continue to observe religious holidays,
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Sinai's kosher kitchen. What's new is the fact
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Valley-Sinai Hospital.
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Joining the DMC has allowed us to
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You rs.
An on-going partnership with the Wayne
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Michigan. All of which allows our medical staff
to develop and provide patients with some of
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To find out just how much the Sinai family has grown,
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