Physician Ethicist (200-1584)

The Physician Ethicist is a 0.35 FTE expert resource with consultation, education, modelling, and engagement responsibilities within the Island Health Ethics program. Reporting to the Executive Medical Director, Quality, Safety, Risk, Experience & Research, the Physician Ethicist is accountable for working collaboratively with the Manager, Ethics in aiding in developing, planning, and implementing ethics related services for Island Health.

The Physician Ethicist will work collaboratively with the Ethics Program team members in providing ongoing ethical practice leadership and consultation throughout Island Health’s service programs. The Physician Ethicist builds organizational capacity for sound ethical decision-making by engaging physicians, staff, and volunteers in appropriate forums, providing ethics education both formally and informally, conducting clinical and organizational consults, and modelling ethical practice.

Skills required for this position:
1. Ethical knowledge and practice: Training and/or experience in providing clinical ethics consultation, education, analysis. This includes an understanding of bioethics history, various approaches that can be used for ethical discussion and problem solving from the bedside to the office of leadership.
2. Communication: Demonstrates excellence in interpersonal relationships, written and verbal communication skills, and presentation and group facilitation skills.
3. Leadership: Engages in and facilitates activities to ensure medical staff and staff work as a team to resolve ethical practice issues that arise; Links with appropriate Division Heads and Chiefs of Staff, and medical staff to identify system level resolutions for ethical dilemmas where required.
4. Cultural Humility and Cultural Safety: Consistently demonstrate awareness and commitment to upholding Island Health’s priority for improving health outcomes for Indigenous people by acting to eradicate Indigenous specific racism and create a trauma-informed, culturally safe health care environment.
5. Change Management: Acts as an ethics ‘champion’ to engage and support medical staff and staff through ethics related change. Understanding and support of culture change related to ethical practice where necessary.
6. Planning: Assesses, monitors, and anticipates education needs and works with medical and administrative leaders to create accessible opportunities for education and engagement within available resources.

This successful candidate will be expected to:

• Must be an actively practicing physician able to carry privileges at Island Health.
• Have a Master’s degree or higher related to clinical ethics practice and experience applying that education in a learning health system.
• Use Island Health email address for work related to this position.
• Dedicate the requisite time to this position during Island Health regular working hours, or as agreed upon with the Executive Medical Director and Executive Director.
• Participate in orientation and training.
• Acts as a clinical ethical content expert and a resource for ethical decision-making in the clinical setting in collaboration with patients, families, residents, staff, physicians, and volunteers.
• Conduct and document ethics consultation in alignment with practice regulations and expectations (including professional regulatory, organizational, and program level).
• Lead or participate in ethics training sessions presented by the Island Health Ethics Program (i.e. Journal club, Ethics Lunch and Learns, etc.).
• Consistently demonstrate awareness and consideration of academic, political, social, cultural, and moral norms, contextual factors, and ethics consultation approaches as well as relevant legislation, IH policies, and staff rules in the management of ethical issues.

Start Date

As soon as possible