5th Transplant Masterclass |
The Bioethical Dilemmas of Organ Donation and Transplantation: Between Hope and Challenge

The educational program returns with a webinar on October 21, 2024

Can loss give birth to a life? How can balanced decisions be made at the critical moment of organ donation, when medical practice and human anguish are faced with bioethics? And are we open enough to accept that the chain of life may also involve death, especially when the burden and the responsibility of decision bear upon us personally?

The Transplant Masterclasses educational program returns with a webinar which zooms in the ethical issues surrounding organ donation and transplantation, with which physicians and donor relatives are called upon to deal with at the time of loss, and sheds light on the imperceptible boundaries among medical practice, ethics and humanity that emerge in the most crucial moment: the moment of organ donation. This discussion equally concerns healthcare professionals, citizens and society at large and revolves around timely and reliable provision of information, transparency and reliability, which every transplant program ought to have well as the delicate balance between life-saving medical care and the ethical decisions involved in it.

Three distinguished speakers, two women with a remarkable track record in transplants, Ana Franca — Internal Medicine Consultant, Intensivist, Hospital Manager Specialist, Transplantation Consultant — and Núria Masnou — ICU specialist, Transplant Coordinator and Chair of EDTCO (2023– 2025) — as well as well as Tobias Degsell, CEO of Combiner, Creativity Expert and international speaker with a long-standing experience as a curator in Nobel Prizes, guide as through a conversation characterized by deep reflection and intense emotions. The discussion will be moderated by Ioannis N. Boletis, President of the Onassis Hospital.

More specifically, in the context of this webinar, healthcare professionals will be able to discuss the ethical dilemmas that accompany donation after cardiac death (DCD) but also the need for scientific and moral integrity required in end-of-life treatment, always ensuring dignity and respect to the dying person.

In addition, topics that are relevant to citizens and society at large will be discussed, such as the actual meaning brain death, the myths around organ trade, the ways to enhance understanding and trust regarding fair allocation of organs, as well as the ways to address misinformation, which is still present in discussions related to organ donation and transplantation.

Join us in an interactive discussion to shed light onto the gray areas of medical ethics and highlight the burden and the responsibility accompanying each decision.

Agenda

19:00 | Beginning of the webinar

19:01 | Opening remarks – Moderation, Ioannis N. Boletis, President of the Onassis Hospital

Speeches

19:05 | Tobias Degsell (keynote speaker), CEO of Combiner and Creativity Expert

19:25 | Ana Franca, Internal Medicine Consultant, Intensivist, Hospital Manager Specialist, Transplantation Consultant

19:35 | Q&A (10 min max)

19:55 | Núria Masnou, ICU specialist, Transplant Coordinator at Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital (Girona, Spain). Chair of EDTCO 2023-2025

20:05 | Q&A (10 min max)

20:15 | Closing remarks – Conclusions, Ioannis N. Boletis

Info

Attendance via the event webpage will be free of charge and there will be simultaneous interpreting in Greek and in English.