Anesthesiology Research

Dr. Waisel’s research focuses on explicating the roles and responsibilities of anesthesiologists. In the past he has studied the origins of the medical profession of anesthesia. He is now studying the lessons of the past, with the intent of developing recommendations for the anesthesiology community.

Part of Dr. Waisel’s work involves defining the ethical obligations of anesthesiologists to patients, the medical community and society. Current projects in this area focus on informed consent. In conjunction with the Institute for Professional and Ethical Practice, he is studying the effects of simulation on teaching patient-centered informed consent. Dr. Waisel is working on completing a manuscript on the practical application of the patient-centered approach.

Other research focuses on public applications of ethical principles.  Dr. Waisel heads a group that is working with CRICO to develop and use a taxonomy of the psychosocial factors that contribute to medical errors. The current shallow analyses of psychosocial factors constrain the assessment necessary to develop interventions to minimize these errors.

Another ethical obligation is to help the socioeconomically disadvantaged. For the past few years Dr. Waisel has been addressing the inadequacies of lethal injection. The rationale for how this helps the socioeconomically disadvantaged is beyond the scope of this paper. Current work focuses on analyzing concerns with the goal of forestalling the current system of lethal injection.