Specialties
General Medicine and Bioethics
Bioethics Consultation Service
Consultations by the UC Davis School of Medicine Bioethics Program are provided on a confidential basis to all members of the UC Davis Health community. Coverage is provided for topics in both clinical ethics and research ethics. The Bioethics Program provides consultations on Clinical Research Ethics through the Clinical and Translational Science Center.
Bioethics consultations routinely address problems that are deeply personal and deeply concerning for the people involved in the case. The success of a consultation depends upon establishing a safe and confidential space in which the case can be discussed and understood more as carefully as required. The Bioethics Program routinely consults on conflicts of interest, patient confidentiality, and provider uncertainty. Because of these needs, it is the program’s practice to collect and maintain as little information about any case as possible, and consultations can be offered anonymously.
There are situations in which confidentiality cannot be honored: if someone’s life is at risk, or the case triggers mandatory reporting obligations according to the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both services offer advice about ethical dilemmas and concerns that arise in the course of providing patient care, but there are two key differences.
The UC Davis Medical Center's Bioethics Committee provides consultations by credentialed members of the UC Davis Medical Center's clinical staff, and so have the ability to, if necessary, place a note in the electronic health record (EHR).
The School of Medicine's Bioethics Program is most suited for concerns or problems that may require significant research. Frequently we respond to consultations that require intensive background legal, regulatory, or scientific research. Consultations provided by the Bioethics Program are purely advisory; we cannot make changes to electronic health records.
While we cannot give you specific legal advice, we can help you contextualize your concerns and discuss possible next steps.
Both the Bioethics Program and the UC Davis Ombuds Office offer confidential advice. If you are uncertain, you can request support from both.
So long as you have outstanding ethical questions or concerns, we will continue to work with you — there is no time limit to the consultation process. Some engagements last less than 10 minutes, while others may involve more than a month of engaged research, communication, and problem solving.
We cannot provide legal advice.
There is no standard process for bioethics consultations from the Bioethics Program. The first step is just to reach out, and we will do our best to support you. Sometimes the underlying problem can be resolved in a single phone call, and in other cases we will work with you for weeks or months. The complexity of the issues and the needs for support determine the process for an individual consultation.
To Request a Consultation
