Podcast | Business of Medicine | January 21, 2022

Physician Influence in Shared Decision Making

In this podcast, Dr. Lauris Kaldjian explains the need for ‘shared decision making’ between patients and physicians, why it is important and details steps physicians can take to make that happen. He also offers insight to help physicians avoid slipping into manipulation or coercion when faced with certain situations. 

References and Resources

  1. Mayfield JJ, McKee KY, Zier LS, et al. Hearts and Minds: an Exercise in Clinical Reasoning. J Gen Intern Med. 2021;36(6):1778-1783.
  2. Scheunemann LP, Ernecoff NC, Buddadhumaruk P, et al. Clinician-Family Communication About Patients’ Values and Preferences in Intensive Care Units. JAMA Intern Med. 2019;179(5):676-684.
  3. Elwyn G, Frosch D, Thomson R, et al. Shared decision making: a model for clinical practice. J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(10):1361-1367.
  4. Appelbaum PS. Clinical practice. Assessment of patients’ competence to consent to treatment. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(18):1834-1840.
  5. Charles C, Whelan T, Gafni A. What do we mean by partnership in making decisions about treatment? BMJ. 1999;319(7212):780-782.
Earn CME Credit

Dr. Lauris Kaldjian received his MD from the University of Michigan. He went east to New Haven, Connecticut, for training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Yale University, where he also received an MDiv and PhD in Christian ethics. He then returned to the Midwest, to Iowa City, Iowa, where for over 20 years he has been on the faculty at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

At the University of Iowa, he is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, directs the Program in Bioethics and Humanities, holds the Richard M. Caplan Chair in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities, and is busy as a teacher of medical ethics to students and trainees while also serving on the hospital’s Ethics Consult Service and pursuing a range of research interests that include practical wisdom, virtue ethics, conscientious practice, ethics education, goals of care, and end of life decision making. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. Kaldjian has served on the ethics committees of the United Network for Organ Sharing, the Society of General Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians, and the Iowa Medical Society. He also served as a deputy editor for the Journal of General Internal Medicine and currently serves on the editorial board of Communication & Medicine.