SIU first-year law, medical school students to focus on professional responsibility

September 05, 2024

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. - More than 230 Southern Illinois University Carbondale first-year professional students will confront and discuss current ethical legal and medical issues together on Friday, Sept. 6, at the SIU Simmons Law School.

The 232 students from the law school and the SIU School of Medicine will be part of the 27th annual Interdisciplinary Professional Responsibility Day, one of the university's largest, longstanding interdisciplinary events, in the Lesar Law Building. Participating students are from the Simmons Law School, the SIU School of Medicine's medical degree program and the medical school's physician assistant program.

This year, there are 109 first-year law students, 82 first-year medical students and 41 physician assistant students.

"Interdisciplinary Professionalism Day is a cornerstone of our commitment to ethics and collaboration across professions," said Angela J. Upchurch, acting dean of SIU's Simmons Law School. "This event allows our law and medical students to confront real-world ethical dilemmas together, helping them understand the importance of working collaboratively from the very beginning of their careers. It reflects our dedication to developing well-rounded professionals who are prepared to navigate complex legal and medical challenges."

The students will be divided into 15 groups, each with a mix of law students, medical students and physician assistant students to discuss and analyze a different current legal topic with the assistance of a legal and medical facilitator in each group, said Dr. James Lynch, an education associate professor and first-year doctoring director.

"One of the goals is to get the different academic students speaking and comparing notes about 'how they think,'" Lynch said. The 15 groups will then form larger groups to discuss what each did to see if there are "generalities in their thought and method." All of the students will then gather together to report their work.

Some of the topics include abortion-related scenarios, use of informed consent, physician-assisted suicide, Medicaid research, vaccine mandates and the use of artificial intelligence in decision-making. This year's facilitators include nine physicians, eight medical faculty and staff, five law school faculty, five local attorneys and a judge, Lynch said.

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to attend the large group discussion that will start at 4 p.m. in the law school auditorium. Students and faculty will be available for interviews following the event. To make arrangements for interviews, contact Payton Van Hoy, marketing associate at the SIU Simmons Law School, at 618-453-8263 or [email protected].

The School of Law and School of Medicine each require the program, and the event is part of the law school's first-year Professionalism and the Law class. Over the years, cases have involved bioethics, challenging social dilemmas, and life-and-death decision-making. Students who are in the first year of the four-year M.D. degree attend classes on the Carbondale campus where they concentrate on the basic sciences.

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