“The Art and Science of Healthcare” is the title of the 2013 Galileo’s Legacy Conference at Missouri Western State University on Thursday, Feb. 21 in the Enright Community Room, Spratt Hall 214-216. Dr. Amy Marie Haddad, Dr. Shannon Wooden and Dr. David Gorski are the guest speakers for the event, which is free and open to the public. Note: Because of the possibility of inclement weather, the final presentation of the day has been scheduled earlier.

“Medicine touches the lives of every person,” said Dr. James Okapal, associate professor of philosophy and one of the conference organizers. “Modern healthcare workers have to strike a delicate balance between knowledge gained through personal experience and that which has been verified through clinical and randomized controlled trials. We hope this conference will bring the discussion of modern medicine to the public in a way which empowers their medical care choices.”

The schedule is as follows:

11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. – Dr. Haddad, director of the Center for Health Policy & Ethics and the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences at Creighton University, “The Convergence of Health Care Technology and Bedside Decisions: The Case of Extracorporeal Life Support.” Dr. Haddad received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Creighton, her master’s in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her doctorate in education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has taught ethics in the health sciences at Creighton since 1984 and has established a national reputation in the area of pharmacy ethics.

2-3:20 p.m. – Dr. Wooden, associate professor of English, Missouri State University, “Why Medicine Needs Stories.” Dr. Wooden received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Missouri State, and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina. Much of her research work has to do with literature and science, including the interface between narrative and medicine.

3:30 p.m.-4:45 p.m. – Dr. Gorski, surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, medical director of the Alexander J. Walt Comprehensive Breast Center and cancer liaison physician for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Cancer, “The Blind Spot of Evidence-Based Medicine.” Dr. Gorski also serves on the faculty of the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He first became interested in pseudoscience and “alternative” medicine around 2000, when he accidentally wandered into a Usenet newsgroup and began critically examining the claims there. Since then, he has accumulated considerable experience refuting pseudoscience online, and is currently managing editor of ScienceBasedMedicine.org.

The Galileo’s Legacy Conference started in the 2005-2006 school year as a joint venture of the departments of biology and history, philosophy and geography. The conference is designed as a regional forum for the discussion of the cultural, public policy and ethical implications of current trends in scientific research. Funding is provided by the Missouri Western State University Foundation.

For more information, contact Dr. Okapal at jokapal@missouriwestern.edu or Dr. Karen Koy, assistant professor of geology, at kkoy@missouriwestern.edu.

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.

 

Updated on Feb. 19, 2013 @3:46 p.m.