/Renaissance School of Medicine
Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care & Bioethics

Upcoming Events

Rachel Broudy

GRAND ROUNDS: Dementia: A Lens for Exploring What it Means to be Human (and Why it Matters)
Presenter: Rachel Broudy, MD

Thursday, April 9, 2026
4:30pm- 6:00pm
Location: Zoom (RSVP for link)
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Dementia is often seen as a condition where our humanity is at risk, or is lost. But what if dementia were actually the place where we could learn more about what it meant to be human? What if the skills and practices needed to see a person with dementia as fully human, told us something about ourselves, about what it meant to be human, and how to support the humanity of all of us? And what does this tell us about medicine, dementia and healthcare as physicians, as scientists, as innovators and as caregivers? Come hear Dr. Rachel Broudy share a unique view of dementia, informed by physicians, philosophers, scientists and healers, that is critical to the wellbeing of our global society, as well as our patients and our families.

Benzi Kluger

GRAND ROUNDS: Neuropalliative Care: Lessons in Caring, Culture Change, and Challenging Systems from an Emerging Field
Presenter: Benzi Kluger, MD, MS

Thursday, April 23, 2026
4:30pm- 6:00pm
Location: Zoom (RSVP for link)
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Palliative care (PC) is an approach to the care of people living with serious illness and their families focused on improving quality of life. Although PC is traditionally associated with cancer and end-of-life care (hospice), there is increasing evidence that this approach is helpful for a wide range of illnesses and across the full illness journey, including the time of diagnosis. Neuropalliative care is an emerging field dedicated to developing and disseminating approaches to palliative care that meet some of the unique challenges facing people living with these illnesses. The lecturer, Dr. Benzi Kluger, is a pioneer in this field and the founding president of the International Neuropalliative Care Society (INPCS). He will share his largely accidental journey into this field and reflect on its implications for how we train doctors in neurology and other fields. He will also share some lessons based on his work in clinical care, research, education, and advocacy including the importance of joy, love and meaning in serious illness and the need for frameworks of care shaped around human values.

 

GRAND ROUNDS: How Relinquishment and Adoption Fit into Family Formation: A Case Study and Reflections from Twice Blessed: A Story of Unconditional Love
Presenters: Stefanie Mercado Altman, Claire Altman, and Stan Altman

Thursday, May 7, 2026
4:30pm- 6:00pm
Location: Zoom (RSVP for link)
RSVP

This Grand Rounds presentation offers a compelling case study drawn from the co-authored memoir Twice Blessed: A Story of Unconditional Love. Through three voices – the adoptee and her adoptive parents, the presentation explores how relinquishment, stand-by guardianship, and adoption unfold in the context of terminal illness, public health crisis and child welfare systems at the intersection of medicine, public health, social work, trauma, and child welfare. It traces one child’s journey through the AIDS epidemic and into adulthood, highlighting the real-world systems and ethical decisions that shape permanency, stability, and long-term outcomes.

KEY THEMES

  • Adoption as a historic and modern child welfare solutions
    HIV/AIDS and the public health crisis of the early 1990s
  • Housing as healthcare: supportive housing models and integrated care
  • Standby guardianship and family planning during terminal illness
    Custody conflict, Family Court, and permanency planning
  • Trauma, attachment, identity and long-term developmental outcomes
  • The role of healthcare providers in preventing child displacement
    Ethical tensions between attachment and child safety.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Understand how relinquishment affects both birth parents and children, and how professionals can support this process
  • Recognize how severe parental illness can become a pediatric and family crisis
  • Understand the role of clinical teams in guardianship planning and prevention of child displacement
  • Explore ethical tensions between emotional attachment and long-term child stability
  • Identify opportunities for stronger partnerships between hospitals, housing providers, and community-based care systems
  • Reflect on the lasting impact of healthcare decisions beyond the immediate clinical encounter.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Medical treatment does not end at diagnosis. When a parent is seriously ill, the child becomes part of the clinical picture—even if the child is not in the exam room. Health care practitioners encounter these types of family issues in many cases, not just those specifically dealing with adoption, and should be aware of options and approaches to handling these very sensitive issues.