Your Jewish Compass for Navigating Questions of Medical Ethics

Explore the guiding Jewish values that help inform choices on common medical questions. This course will equip students with the tools to chart a path through four areas of medical ethics: experimental treatments, extending life, pregnancy questions, and caring for a body. Gain an enriching perspective on how the Jewish ethical tradition helps us confidently navigate fateful decisions.

Lawyers: MCLE board-approved for 6.0 CLE credits for attorneys in the state of Virginia

Physicians: New York Medical College designates this Live activity for a maximum of 6 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Lesson 1: Expiramental Treatments - When emerging treatments offer hope of recovery, when is the risk justified? Discover the Jewish ethics of risking your life in the hope of extending your long-term prospects.

Lesson 2: Extending Life - How does Judaism balance the desire to preserve life with concerns of reducing suffering? See how Jewish values inform a dignified approach to end-of-life care and advance medical directives.

Lesson 3: Pregnancy Questions - Explore questions of pregnancy through the lens of Jewish texts. Is a fetus a human life or a part of the mother’s body? When pregnancy endangers a woman’s life, may she, in good conscience, carry the pregnancy to term?

Lesson 4: A Body's Dignity - Might autopsy violate the dignity of the human body? Learn the Jewish view on the respect to which the deceased is entitled and how the sanctity of human life continues after death.