CBMH Core Faculty

Sharon Douglas, MD

Sharon P. Douglas, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean for veterans administration education at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, is the associate chief of staff for education and ethics and a staff pulmonologist at the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery VA Medical Center.

Board certified in internal medicine and pulmonary medicine, a fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians, and a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), Dr. Douglas earned certification in health-care ethics from the University of Washington in 1998, is a certified advanced cardiac life support instructor, has served as an AMA Education for Physicians on End-of-life Care trainer, and was formerly an instructor for the Institute of Healthcare Communication.

A member of the Mississippi State Medical Association's Judicial Council, Dr. Douglas' involvement in shaping policies that further ethics within clinical care is demonstrated by local, regional and national service. Active in community and statewide ethical conferences, Dr. Douglas has lectured to multidisciplinary health care providers across the state and has worked with Mississippi Advance Directives on such important topics as end-of-life care, life support, and advance directives. A member of the Veterans Health Administration National Ethics Committee, Peer Review Committee, and CPR Committee, as well as the American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, which she currently chairs, Dr. Douglas is a former chair of the UMMC Ethics Committee and the VA Executive Committee of the Medical Staff. The Veterans Administration has recognized Dr. Douglas' work with a number of Medical Center Special Contribution awards, the 1998 Chief of Staff Award, a 2005 VA Secretary's Hero Award for her work in the aftermath of hurricanes, and the 2009 William A. Nelson Award for Excellence in VHA Healthcare Ethics.

In addition to long-standing policy contributions, Dr. Douglas introduces aspiring physicians to a deeper engagement with ethics. A contributor to selected ethics scholarly efforts, Dr. Douglas helps medical students, residents and pulmonary fellows probe informed consent, cultural proficiency, communicating difficult findings, end-of-life care and health-care professionalism, writes questions addressing these topics for the USMLE Step 1 Introduction to Clinical Medicine exam, and serves as faculty sponsor for Literati Medicus, a book club for third-and fourth-year medical students that is devoted to medical ethics, professionalism, cultural awareness and medical-legal topics.

Three times chosen by UMMC School of Medicine students as an All-Star Teacher (2000, 2002, 2005), Dr. Douglas has received the Golden Apple Award, the American Medical Student Association Award (2000), selection as Keynote Speaker for both the Long Coat and White Coat ceremonies, and the Alpha Omega Alpha Teacher of the Year Award (2010).

Carrie Morgan Henderson, MD

Dr. Carrie M. Henderson has joined the core faculty of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities. She also serves as an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care.

After receiving a BS in biochemistry and molecular biology magna cum laude from Centre College, Danville, KY, in 2001, Morgan earned her MD in 2005 with high distinction at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY. She then did a pediatrics residency from 2005-08 and served as chief resident from 2008-09 at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, and did a pediatric critical care fellowship from 2009-12 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. (CV)

During her fellowship in critical care, Dr. Morgan developed a broad interest in medical ethics, particularly related to end-of-life care and organ transplantation in children. She joined the ethics committee at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and attended the intensive bioethics course at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 2011. Wanting to expand her ethics training, Dr. Morgan completed a yearlong fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago during her final year of critical care training. Current research interests include pediatric palliative sedation therapy and end-of-life care issues in pediatric patients.

Susan Shands Jones, JD

Susan Shands Jones, who received degrees in art history and law from Vanderbilt University, is a member of the Mississippi, Tennessee and District of Columbia Bar Associations, the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the American Health Lawyer's Association. She is also a fifth-generation Jacksonian whose tireless efforts as associate general counsel for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, a leader within local community service organizations, and strong voice of support for access and advocacy in health care and education are summed up in her view that, "We've all got to care about Jackson."

Upon receiving her law degree, Ms. Shands Jones went the unusual route of practicing administrative land and environmental law on behalf of the public sector in Washington, D.C., for four years, during which she was involved in cases on land and private usage in the far West and Alaska, as well as conservation and development of natural resources. She went into private practice for four years and then joined Vanderbilt's Office of University Relations. After returning south, Ms. Shands Jones was recruited to serve initially as Mississippi's associate secretary of state for securities and business, and then as the state's special assistant attorney general for the secretary of state's office. She joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1997, where in addition to representing UMMC as in the areas of corporate transactions, administrative, real property,and research law, she taught a School of Medicine elective in Ethics and the Law. Currently, she supports Professionalism Across the Curriculum objectives, and teaches a Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities undergraduate bioethics fellowship course segment on Medicine and the Humanities.

Ms. Shands Jones has a strong interest in the importance of ethics to both public policy and advocacy efforts, professional and voluntary. In addition to her professional contributions, she has made long-term commitments to such Jackson organizations as Parents for Public Schools, Community Foundation of Greater Jackson, and the Women's Fund of Mississippi. Her ethics and advocacy concerns are centered on access to education and health care for children as well as training and health-care opportunities for women seeking better opportunities for the support of their families.

April L. Palmer, MD

Dr. April L. Palmer, Chief of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Division and Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, currently serves as the medical center's subcommittee chair for Ethics education. Board certified in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases, Dr. Palmer's particular ethics interests include research ethics, health-care access and the ethics of new biotechnologies.

After completing a bachelor's degree in human biology with Distinction and Honors at the University of Kansas, Dr. Palmer received a medical education at that university's School of Medicine. She then pursued pediatric training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, where she served as chief resident, followed by a University of Colorado School of Medicine fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases.

Dr. Palmer's clinical dedication and devotion to patients are particularly welcome within the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities Clinical Ethics Consultation Service, where her clarity and compassion can be pivotal for families facing ethical dilemmas involving children.