Research
Surgical Ethics Research Consortium
The CHESS Surgical Ethics Research Consortium allows faculty, residents, and medical students to collaborate on surgical ethics projects. Through participation in journal club, challenging case discussions, and engagement in research projects, this group exists to foster the community and discussion surrounding ethics within the Department of Surgery at WashU Medicine. Meetings occur every other month, and all are welcome to participate!
Spruce MW, Applewhite MK, Martin M, Gurney JM, Lough FC, Tadlock MD, Holcomb JB. Justice and triage in military medical ethics: A brief report. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2025 Aug 1;99(3S).
Spruce MW, Shelat VG, Squirrell K, Brown D, Kopar P. “Applied Ethics in Surgery: What Do We Invite Our Patients to Trust?” Fostering Humanism in Surgery. Bosco and Jotterand (Eds.). Springer Cham, May 2025.
Loveless Z, Rowland KJ. “Building Character in Surgical Residency: How Surgeons Learn Wisdom and Humility.” Fostering Humanism in Surgery. Bosco and Jotterand (Eds.). Springer Cham, May 2025
S Huang, S Ray, D Brown, P Kopar. When Are Patients Dead: The Cost of Lingering Ambiguity. J Clin Ethics. 2025; 36(3):263-267. doi: 10.1086/736142.
A Hess, H Phelps, D Brown, P Kopar. Do we know what we are talking about? Measuring resident and faculty surgical ethics competency. Global Surgical Education 2 (October 2023) DOI.org/10.1007/s44186-023-00167-9.
D Paneitz, H Jefferson, D Hanto, M McKneally, T Williamson, J Mayer, P Angelos, D Brown, P Kopar. Surgical ethics training: educational and professional opportunities. Annals of Surgery 278 (December 2023):e1161-e1163. DOI:10.1097/SLA.0000000000006081.
C Noda, D Brown, P Kopar. The surgeon as professional: changes and challenges over time. Annals of Surgery (2022) doi: 10.1097/SLA.00000000000005778.
P Kopar, A Visani, K Squirrell, D Brown. Addressing futility: a practical approach. Critical Care Explorations 4 (July 2022) doi: 10.1097/CCE.0000000000000706.
P Kopar, K Vallar, P Kepper, D Brown. To reimagine the surgeon archetype, we need an arche-system. Surgery 171 (April 2022):1135-36.
C Drubin, C Frye, D Brown, P Kopar. When doctors disagree: a case-based discussion of proactive ethics. Journal of Clinical Ethics 32 (Spring 2021):61-68.
P Kopar, D Brown, and I Turnbull. Ethics of codes and codes of ethics: when is it ethical to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the COVID-19 pandemic? Annals of Surgery 272 (December 2020):930-34.