Taylor, Atherton Receive UAMS Ethics Awards

AUGUST 2007 | Bonnie Taylor, M.D., and Elizabeth “Molly” Atherton, M.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), were honored recently for their work in the area of medical ethics  by the University Hospital Medical Ethics Advisory Committee. 

They each received the Chris Hackler Award for Excellence in Medical Ethics in a brief ceremony before Pediatric Grand Rounds on August 21, 2007.  This award was started in 2005, to promote the thoughtful analysis and discussion of ethical issues in patient care situations.  The award was named after Dr. Hackler, in appreciation for and recognition of his 25 years on campus as the founding head of the Division of Medical Humanities.  He was the initial recipient of the award.  The intent is to recognize one faculty and one resident physician from the College of Medicine each year. Taylor, professor of pediatrics and medical director at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, received the 2006 faculty award, while Atherton, a UAMS radiology resident, received the 2006 resident award. UAMS neurologist Lee Archer, M.D., chairman of the UAMS Medical Ethics Advisory Committee, presented the awards on behalf of his committee.

Taylor was selected for her leadership in numerous areas that deal with medical ethics, Archer said. “She chaired the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Ethics Committee for 12 years and served on it for over 15 years. She established ethics discussion sessions as part of the pediatric curriculum and founded the First Tuesday Ethics series. She helped develop a Web site focusing on pediatric ethical issues.   She has been a part of the sophomore medical ethics course for 15 years and has been consistently rated among the top faculty by the students in that course and she has supported the first faculty position for an ethicist at ACH with money from her endowed chair.”