I majored in philosophy, and now I direct a clinical bioethics program. I am a clinical ethicist who directs of one of North America’s largest clinical ethics consultation services, at Houston Methodist Hospital. Clinical ethicists help patients and healthcare professionals make good medical decisions. We don’t use scalpels or administer medications. Instead, we listen and make arguments. We look for assumptions and clarify commitments. We create policies intended to benefit individual patients and entire communities.

My time as a philosophy major and religious studies minor created the foundation for this work. I realized that language, ideas, and arguments matter; I learned that shared inquiry into what is good matters. My time at UNI became the catalyst for a career where I try to help patients, families, and professionals discover how their values, intentions, and preferences can lead to good and fair medical care.