American Society of Bioethics and Humanities Convention

I'm on my way to Cleveland, Ohio for "Future Tense," the Annual meeting of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

Tonight, there's a pre-conference symposium focusing on the novel, House of God. The book written by Dr. Stephen Bergman was a rite of passage when I was pre-med. It's now 35 years old, and (although I didn't read it until the mid-'80's) I'm a bit older, myself. I'm about half-way through the re-reading, now.

The rest of the week, I'll be attending - and possible blogging on - "Welcome and Plenary Session How to Stay Human in Medicine: The House of God, Mount Misery, and the Spirit of the Place," "Building Better Humans," " Advancing the Debate on Futility to a New
Level: Ethical, Legal, and Clinical Implications," "Future Directions for Public Health Emergency Planning: Broader Moral Perspectives," and last, but not least, "Limiting Rights for the Public Good: Balancing Public Safety and Civil Liberty in Response toTerrorism, Epidemics, and National Security," with "Organizer," Paul Root Wolpe, PhD and Jonathan Moreno, PhD. The former has served as the ethicist for both NASA and Planned Parenthood, and the last is on staff at the Progressive bioethics arm of the "Center for American Progress."

For some reason, there always seem to be several very interesting sessions going on at the same time. For instance, Saturday morning, I have to choose between "Professionalism in Bioethics and Medicine" or "Role of Government in Public Health."

Wish me luck. The weather here in South Texas is in the 80's in the daytime, while in Cleveland, the highs will be in the 40's and the 50's. Before I knew Cleveland would have the heat wave, I bought gloves and dug out the scarves. Since I don't own a real coat - I'm claustrophobic more than I'm "cold-natured" and who needs a heavy coat in San Antonio, anyway? - I'll be the extra-bulky one in layers of red and black.