UMD News Releases

DULUTH, MN — On Thursday, October 24 from 6–8 pm, UMD’s Center for Ethics and Public Policy will sponsor a lecture entitled “Preferences for Health Care at the End of Life: Rural-Urban Difference.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at UMD’s Solon Campus Center, Room 120.

Dr. Charles Gessert, senior research scientist (retired), Essentia Institute of Rural Health, will discuss the findings of his 20+ years of research regarding rural/urban differences in end of life care. The talk will center upon the following questions: “Health care decisions are personal decisions, reflecting individual values and goals. Or are they? Why do people from different communities pursue different health care goals? What can research on rural-urban differences in end-of-life care teach us about the care that we will want late in life?”

Gessert served on the Duluth Clinic Foundation’s Board of Trustees and has served on the Ethics Steering Committee and Ethics Subcommittee for Clinical Consultation at St. Mary’s Medical Center. He also teaches ethics to medical students at the UMD Medical School.

In 2012, Gessert received the Lake Superior Medical Society’s Arthur Aufderheide Scientific Award, given in recognition of outstanding scientific achievements. He has more than 80 publications in professional journals to his credit.

For more information about this event and The Center for Ethics and Public Policy, see https://sites.google.com/a/d.umn.edu/cepp/