Biography
Dr. Mayer received her MD degree from the University of Arizona-Tucson in 1985. She completed an internal medicine residency and a rheumatology fellowship. After many years working in a solo rheumatology practice in Northern Colorado, she transitioned into Hospice and Palliative Care. She then served as Medical Director of a non-profit hospice in Northern Colorado.
Dr. Mayer left Colorado in 2013 to pursue a two-year Clinical Ethics Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Following the fellowship, she established a Clinical Ethics Department and Palliative Care Program at Cleveland Clinic Florida. Once those were established, she moved back to the West and is currently working in inpatient Palliative Medicine and Clinical Ethics at Banner Health, a six-state non-profit secular health system in the Phoenix Valley.
Her teaching experience includes Biomedical Ethics at Mayo Medical School in Scottsdale, International Courses for Case Western Reserve University (Death, Dying and Euthanasia in the Netherlands and Public Health in the Netherlands), and Communication Skills at the Cleveland Clinic. Her primary areas of interest are end of life issues and communication in medicine, with clinical ethics, hospice care, and teaching her primary passions.
She has served on ethics committees for over 25 years and in 2009 earned an MS degree from the Union College-Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now Clarkson-Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) Bioethics Program. She has been collaborating with Dr. Strosberg in the Policy Course for over 10 years.
Education Background
Biology Honors BS - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Doctor of Medicine MD - University of Arizona
Bioethics MS - Union Graduate College-Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Experience
Director Clinical Ethics, Banner Gateway Medical Center, 2019-Present
Clinical Ethics System Consultant Banner Health, 2016-Present
Adjunct Faculty Case Western Reserve University, Department of Bioethics, 2013-Present
Adjunct Professional Staff Department of Bioethics, Cleveland Clinic, 2016-Present
Clinical Assistant Professor Departments of Bioethics Med Humanism and Internal Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, 2016-Present
Faculty and Biomedical Ethics Instructor Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, 2016-Present
Faculty Clarkson University Bioethics Master of Science Program, 2009-Present
Courses Taught
- BIE520 - Healthcare Policy
Research Interests
- End of life
- Advance care planning
- Clinical Ethics Consultation
Publications
- Feldman, SL, Mayer PA. Arizona Health Care Systems’ Coordinated Response to COVID-19—“In It Together”. JAMA Health Forum, August 24, 2020.
- Mayer PA. Families Who Micromanage, in Thorny Issues in Clinical Ethics Consultation: North American and European Perspectives, eds. Wasson K and Kuczewski M (Springer) July 2022.
- Strosberg MA, Mayer PA, Teres D. It’s Time for a Post-Mortem on COVID Crisis Standards of Care. MedPageToday June 16, 2022.
- Larson SA, Mayer PA. Denying Death: The Terminally Critically Ill. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. July 21 2022.
- Mayer PA, McElfresh DC, Bracmontes K. Universal Ethics Evaluation of ICU Patients: A Model. Journal of Hospital Ethics. 8(3) 64-71, 2022.
- Jones-Adamczyk AL, Mayer PA. Unintended Consequence of Jesse’s Law in Arizona Critical Care Medicine. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care Sleep. 2022;25(5):83-87.
- Mayer PA, Beyda DH, Johnston CB. Arizona Hospitals and Health Systems’ Statewide Collaboration Producing a Triage Protocol During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Southwest Journal of Pulmonary & Critical Care. Vol 22, p 119-126, 2021.
- Eves MM, Hoeksema LJ, Mayer PA, Mabel H. Developing a Standardized Ethics Consultation Note Template Based on the Formatting Preferences of Stakeholders. The Journal of Clinical Ethics 32, no. 4 (Winter 2021): 322-30.
- Sridhara S, Mayer PA, Medical and Ethical Concerns Regarding Pacemaker Implantation in a Patient with Substance Use Disorder . Cureus 10(7): e3027. doi:10.7759/cureus.3027, July 22, 2018.
- Mayer PA. Editorial (Introduction to Special Ethics Edition), Progress in Palliative Care, June 2015, 23(3), 125.
- Mayer PA, Daly BJ. CPR and Hospice: Incompatible Goals, Irreconcilable Differences. Progress in Palliative Care, June 2015, 23(3), 163-168.
- Jimenez X, Mayer PA. Medically Unexplained Symptoms and Mental Models: From Failure to Fusion and Back to Illness Behavior. Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, 2015, ISSN 1916-2405.
- Perez-Protto S, Mayer PA, Popovich M. Incorporating formal training on delivering bad news into a critical care fellowship curriculum: a pilot project. Critical Care Connections, 2015.
- Mayer PA, Esplin BE, Burant CJ, Wilson BM, Krall ML, Daly BJ, Gatliff J. In My Best Interest: Characteristics of Completed Comprehensive Advance Directives at a Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine October 22, 2015.
- Perez-Protto S, Mayer PA, Popovich M. Training Critical Care Fellows to Deliver Bad News: A Pilot Project. BENO Bio Quarterly Vol 25 No 4, 2015.
- Mayer, PA. Union Graduate College Bioethics Blog, 2014 at http://thebioethicsprogram.wordpress.com
- 3/31/14: Rated NC-17: Why Voluntary Euthanasia of Children is Dead Wrong
- 4/9/14: If Hobby Lobby Wins, We All Lose
- 4/15/14: Sorry Kid, but Your Mom’s in Jail for Having You
- 4/28/14: Death Panels are Back and Now They want to Pay Grandma to Die
- 8/11/14: Media Sensationalism and Medical Practice: Doctors Are Examining Your Genitals for a Good Reason
- 10/13/14: Let Harrison Bergeron Dance
- Mayer, PA. Consultations on ethics are not limited to the curbside. American Medical News, 2010: Vol 53, No 18 Available online at https://www.ama-assn.org.