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A new Catholic Health Care track, designed to train students for work as ethicists, mission directors, and other related positions in Catholic health care settings, is now being offered in the Ph.D. in Theological Ethics program, Theology Department Director of Graduate Studies Professor Kristin Heyer has announced.
Professor Kristin Heyer
“The Catholic Health Care track integrates the comprehensive theological education that characterizes the Ph.D. program in Theological Ethics with two internships in Catholic health care settings, one of which will be at an acute care hospital and the other at a long-term care facility,” said Heyer.
Walsh Professor of Bioethics Andrea Vicini, S.J., will oversee the internships, through which students will gain familiarity and expertise with the organizational and functional dynamics of each health care setting, including the roles of the ethics committee and responsibilities of the hospital’s mission officer, as well as case manager, legal team, social worker, and chaplain.
The program at Boston College is distinctive in its approach compared to clinical ethics programs offered elsewhere at the master’s and doctoral levels, according to Fr. Vicini, because of its strong theological component. “We seek to educate theologians on the richness of the Catholic tradition, Catholic social teaching, virtues, and theological bioethics that, along with a focused immersion in health care, will give them the competence and expertise to protect the identity and promote the mission of Catholic health care institutions.
“To flourish and survive in today’s world, many Catholic health care institutions need to merge with major networks. The role of a mission director, for example, is to protect the identity and mission of the Catholic health care organization by continuing its commitment to serving the poor, undocumented, and unemployed, and adhering to ethical directives proposed by the Catholic hierarchy in terms of beginning of life and end of life issues.”
One doctoral student currently in the Ph.D. program has expressed interest in pursuing the Catholic Health Care track and the program is now accepting applications from prospective students.
Walsh Professor of Bioethics Andrea Vicini, S.J.
The internship placements are being facilitated by M.C. Sullivan, who serves as the chief health care ethicist in the Archdiocese of Boston and director of the Initiative for Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning. The initial acute care hospital internship will take place at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, with additional Catholic hospitals and long-term care facilities in the Greater Boston area to be added as the program expands to more students. At each location, a staff member will serve as a mentor to the BC doctoral students. Dr. Kaarkuzhali Krishnamurthy, an epilepsy and seizure specialist and chair of the ethics committee at St. Elizabeth’s, will serve as the program’s first internship mentor.
“We are grateful to M.C. Sullivan and the archdiocese for this collaboration,” said Fr. Vicini.
The Catholic Health Care track was developed as a result of discussions between BC Theology Department Chair Richard Gaillardetz, who is the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology, and leadership in the Catholic Health Association (CHA), the largest group of nonprofit health care providers in the nation representing more than 600 hospitals and 1,600 long-term care and other health facilities. Several CHA leaders encouraged the Theology Department to develop such a program. They did so to ensure that a future generation of ethicists working in Catholic health care systems be well-educated in the Catholic theological tradition and gain an understanding of the structure, organization, and issues of Catholic health care institutions.
The sequencing of the internships, acute care followed by long-term care, is an intentional move, according to organizers.
“Many of the ethical dilemmas that can occur in the post-acute care setting develop from unresolved ethical issues at the acute care hospital,” noted Heyer. “By starting with the acute care experience, the student will better understand the dilemmas faced, particularly in the ICU setting, and the student will have a more complete understanding of how initial ethical decisions can impact longer term outcomes.”
Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | October 2020