Profiles
Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, HEC-C
Professor & Director
Education
- JD, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, TX
- PhD, Medical Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch of Galveston, Galveston, TX
Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, is a tenured Professor of Bioethics & Health Policy at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago, having joined the faculty in January, 2002. He is also the Graduate Program Director of the online master’s and doctoral programs in bioethics. The bioethics graduate programs have grown to be one of the most thriving graduate programs at Loyola, having graduated many successful alumni. He is the moderator for Loyola Bioethics Live, a monthly program where Loyola faculty, students and guests discuss their work in an informal online format. In 2018, he was named Graduate Faculty Member of the Year at Loyola University Chicago.
He has served as a co-course director for Patient-Centered Medicine for the first year medical students at Stritch and is also a small group facilitator for both PCM-1 and PCM-3. He serves on the LUHS ethics committee and is an ethics consultant for LUHS. He became certified in 2019 by the HCEC Certification Commission and now holds the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) credential.
He has published in a variety of areas and has interests in clinical ethics, medical ethics education, professionalism and professional ethics, global health and justice, media and bioethics, the history of medicine and bioethics, and autism and neurodiversity. He has been an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School and UIC College of Medicine.
Dr. Parsi was elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2007 to the nominating committee of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the major professional organization for bioethicists and medical humanities scholars in the United States. He was elected in 2009 to a 3-year term to the Board of Directors of ASBH. He was elected in 2015 to serve a two-year term as Treasurer of ASBH. He was elected in 2019 as president-elect of ASBH. He began a two-year term as President of ASBH in October, 2021.
He also served as a member of the Public Interest Panel of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education from 2004 to 2006. He served as the chair of the Council of Graduate School Programs at Loyola for the year 2007-2008. He became chair of the Committee on Academic Rank and Tenure (CART) for the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2016.
In 2009, he was invited to serve as a book review editor for the American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB). In 2012, he was invited to serve as an associate editor for AJOB, one of the highest impact journals in bioethics. In 2020, he started moderating AJOB webinars on a variety of topics. More recently, he has been quoted in various media outlets, such as Forbes, Insider, and BMJ.
From 1997 to 2001, he worked at the Institute for Ethics at the American Medical Association (AMA). As Director of Academic Affairs, he supervised the Institute's Fellowship and Externship Programs, as well as the seminar and lecture series. He was a senior editor for the Virtual Mentor (now the AMA Journal of Ethics).
Courses Taught
- BEHL 402 Justice and Health Care
- BEHL 406 Principles of Health Care Ethics
- BEHL 410 Ethics Consultation Simulation Seminar
- BEHL 413 History of Medicine & Bioethics
- BEHL 417 Narrative Bioethics
- BEHL 427 Professionalism & Professional Ethics
- BEHL 491 Bioethics of Pandemics and Public Health Preparedness
- BEHL 491 Bioethics of Film and Television
Professional & Community Affiliations
- Institute for Ethics at the American Medical Association, Bioethics
Publications
- Elster N, Parsi K (2023) The Infodemic and Healthcare Professionals' Ethical Obligations. Sci Tech Lawyer (Spring).
- Olive EJ, Parsi K, Elster N, et al (2022) MEDICAL ETHICS: Fair Game or Fair Warning? Ethical Considerations for Social Media Use in Resident Selection - American Urological Association (auanet.org). American Urological Association
- Parsi K (2022) Ethical Issues in Complex Discharge Cases in Thorny Issues in Clinical Ethics Consultations (eds. K. Wasson and M. Kuczewski) (Springer)
- Elster N, Parsi K (eds) (2022) Transitioning to Adulthood with Autism: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (Springer)
- Parsi K, Dudzinski DM (2022) The Need for Praxis in Combating the Race Idea in Bioethics: Theory, Refelction and Action. AJOB 2(3).
- Zientek D, Parsi K. (2021) Just Distribution of Cardiovascular Resources: The Left Ventricular Assist Device. Ethical Issues in Cardiovascular Medicine, edited by David M. Zientek and Mark J. Cherry (Routledge Press)
- Elster N, Parsi K. (2021) Oral Health Matters: The Ethics of Providing Oral Health During Covid-19. HEC Forum
- Klugman C, Michelson K, Parsi K. (2020). Local Bioethicists Respond to the Pandemic: The Birth of the Covid-19 Chicago Bioethics Coalition (CBC). Bioethics.Net June 5th.
- Parsi K, Elster N. (2020) "You Took an Oath!": Engaging Medical Students About the Importance of Oaths and Codes Through Film and Television. HEC Forum: doi.org/10.1007/s10730-020-09411-x
- Elster N, Parsi K. (2020) Like Autism, Representation Falls on a Spectrum. The American Journal of Bioethics 20(4): 4-5.
- Elster N, Parsi K. (2020) Transitioning from Adolescence to Adulthood with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Overview of Planning and Legal Issues. Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clinic N Am: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2019.11.003.
- Parsi, K, Winslade WJ. Why Dax's Case Still Matters. The American Journal of Bioethics 2019; 19(9): 8-10.
- Wasson K, Adams WH, Berkowitz K, Danis M, Derse AR, Kuczewski MG, McCarthy M, Parsi K, Tarzian AJ. What Is the Minimal Competency for a Clinical Ethics Consult Simulation? Setting a Standard for Use of the Assessing Clinical Ethics Skills (ACES) Tool. AJOB Empirical Bioethics 2019; DOI: 10.1080/23294515.2019.1634653.
- Parsi, K. Review of Christopher Meyers, The Professional Ethics Toolkit. The American Journal of Bioethics 2019 19(6).
- Southworth E, Parsi K. How Should a Physician Counsel a Vegan Patient With IBD Who Might Benefit from Supplements? AMA Journal of Ethics 2018; 20(11): E1025-32