Wellstar Fellowship in Clinical Ethics

About the Program

The aim of the Wellstar Fellowship in Clinical Ethics is to promote advanced competencies in our fellows such that graduates are prepared for employment as clinical ethicists or ethics program leaders in a variety of healthcare settings.

This one-year, full-time, non-ACGME program is designed to offer the necessary training for graduates to be able to deliver quality ethics consultation and engage in other fundamental clinical ethics activities.

Our training is based on the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) Core Competencies for Healthcare Ethics Consultation and the most current competencies and milestones identified within the field.

Some graduates may seek employment in academic bioethics, in which case we believe their clinical preparation will strengthen their academic work and enable them to ground their scholarship, research, and teaching in clinical realities.

What Makes Wellstar’s Fellowship Different?

• Our fellows’ opportunity for experiential learning is unparalleled. Wellstar’s Ethics Consultation Service is one of the largest and most active services in the nation (over 750 consults in fiscal year 2024, across nine hospitals, three inpatient hospice facilities, three skilled nursing facilities, and numerous outpatient sites). Most fellows participate in >200 consults by the end of their fellowship.
• We believe in training our fellows in more than ethics consultation—although our fellows get plenty of experience in this domain. Our team is committed to developing graduates who will be well-rounded as clinical ethicists and capable as leaders of ethics programs and leaders in the field. This commitment leads us to emphasize a holistic view of the spectrum of healthcare delivery (via robust external rotation opportunities, including those that intersect with organizational ethics), a focus on ethics program design, and the building of methodological skills in clinical ethics QI work, among other domains.
• Fellows receive training and mentorship under the supervision of a large Ethics Program team. Fellows rotate with nine Clinical Ethicists. As fellows build their skills and grow into their own authentic mode of delivering ethics consultation and other clinical ethics support, we believe learning from a large team with diverse experiences is essential. Fellows also work with our Ethics Research Manager and Program Coordinators on research and other programmatic endeavors.
• Wellstar’s Ethics Program prides itself on being at the cutting edge of the field. We are continually evolving and innovating new ethics programming and initiatives. We were the first program in the United States to discontinue ethics committees in favor of an alternative—and we believe stronger—model of engagement by healthcare professionals. Our staff are involved in national collaborations across the clinical ethics community in furtherance of shaping the future of the field.
• As the field continues to grow and professionalize, fellowship graduates will need to have skills in building and expanding ethics programs, often at hospitals and health systems with no pre-existing structure. Our Ethics Program was founded in 2015 and has continued to experience growth and expansion since. Our commitment to innovation and our continued integration across the health system provide unique opportunities for fellows to develop program-building skills during fellowship training. With support from experienced staff, we empower our fellows to go from idea to implementation and to cultivate the skills they will need in their future roles.

Fellowship Mission, Vision & Values

Mission

To graduate fellows who excel as clinical ethicists and ethics program leaders.

Vision

To shape the future of the field in ways that markedly enhance support for the ethical dimensions of patient care.

Values

We promote quality. We nurture practical learning. We innovate training.