Elizabeth Chaitin, MSW, MA, DHCE served as the Director of Hospital Based Palliative Care for the Palliative and Supportive Institute of UPMC and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine in the Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics. Dr. Chaitin served as a member of the teaching faculty for the Internal Medicine and Family Practice Residency Programs of UPMC Shadyside, the Master of Arts in Bioethics Program, and the Consortium Ethics Program of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law. She received her MA in Medical Ethics and an MSW in Health & Mental Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Doctorate of Health Care Ethics from Duquesne University. Her MA thesis is entitled “The Nature of Care in Nursing.” Her research interests include end of life decisionmaking, dealing with difficult families, and physician-patient communication.
Representative Publications
Chaitin B, Arnold RM. A case of family disagreement. In: Heffner JE, Byock, JR, editors. End of Life Pearls. Philadelphia, PA: Hanley and Belfus, 2002: 99-102.
Chaitin B. Be careful not to close your eyes. UPMC Health System Palliative Care and Hospice Newsletter 2000; 2: 1.
Chaitin B. Case thirteen: advance directives and pregnancy. In: Kuczewski and Pinkus, editors. An Ethics Casebook for Community Hospitals. Georgetown University Press, 1999: 73-78.
Chaitin B. Every person tells a story. Caregivers News and Report May 1998: 36-38.
Chaitin B. Futility of care: when is enough, enough? Caregivers News and Report June 1998: 10-13.
Chaitin B. Measuring capacity for medical decision-making in the ICU. Caregivers News and Report August 1998: 23-29.
Chaitin B. Same scene, different view. Community Ethics, Newsletter for The Consortium Ethics Program 1997; 4(2).