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Crossing the Line: When Personal Values Enter Clinical Decisions

WednesdayJuly 1st3:00 - 4:00223 M

Marina GOLDIN ISSERLIS, Tom AXELROD and Amalia WALZER

Family physicians frequently face clinical decisions in which guidelines provide limited or conflicting direction. In these situations, values, emotions, and personal experience inevitably influence judgement. An unspoken question often arises: What would I do if this were my parent? This question reveals the ethical tension between professional responsibility, evidence-based practice, and personal morality, yet it is rarely addressed openly in medical education.To explore how personal values and emotional proximity influence clinical decision-making. To examine ethical tension in everyday family medicine beyond formal ethical frameworks. To strengthen reflective skills for managing value-laden clinical conversations.This interactive, case-based workshop uses role-switching and facilitated group discussion. Introduction (10 minutes): Framing ethical tension in family medicine and establishing a respectful learning environment. Case Presentation (10 minutes): A complex clinical scenario involving uncertainty, risk, and competing values. First Discussion Round (20 minutes): Participants discuss the case from the perspective of the treating family physician, focusing on clinical reasoning and professional responsibility. Role Switch (20 minutes): Participants revisit the same case from the perspective of a family member, explicitly addressing emotions, fears, and values. Plenary Reflection (10 minutes): Comparing perspectives and identifying shifts in priorities, communication, and risk tolerance.Participants will develop increased awareness of personal biases, improved ethical sensitivity, and greater confidence in navigating complex, value-driven clinical decisions.By explicitly addressing the question clinicians often ask themselves silently, this workshop brings ethical ambiguity into the open and strengthens family medicine’s core values of compassion, shared decision-making, and relational care.