Biography
Aloysius S. Ochasi is an Associate Professor of Ethics & Organizational Behavior at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is a bioethicist and leadership scholar whose research focuses on bioethics and organizational behavior. Dr. Ochasi started teaching at the university level in 2013 at Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Dr. Ochasi conducts ethics teaching rounds and lectures with about 500 medical residents and fellows and provides bioethics consultations at 14 acute-care hospitals in four states. He is also the clinical ethicist of the affiliate hospitals’ ethics committees. Also, Dr. Ochasi serves as a research mentor to undergraduate, graduate, medical students, and residents who undertake various collaborative and interdisciplinary research in the field of bioethics.
Dr. Ochasi has published several articles in prestigious national and international bioethics journals. His research interests include moral distress and moral disengagement among healthcare professionals, organ donation and transplantation, health equity and access, and the safe reuse of medical devices in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a bioethicist in charge of ethics training for medical students, interns and residents, he saw firsthand the effects of moral distress on the residents. His published research on moral distress among medical residents contributes to policy formulation on moral distress in healthcare settings. It has provided scientific evidence that hospital administrators, directors of residency programs, medical faculty, and policymakers need to develop appropriate mechanisms to effectively address the issues of moral distress and the propensity for moral disengagement among residents. Dr. Ochasi’s published research on the reuse of medical devices is focused on post-mortem CRMD donation and reutilization programs in LMICs, as a life-saving initiative. His research is focused on post-mortem CRMD donation and reutilization programs in LMICs. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally. Over three-quarters of all deaths-related CVDs take place in LMICs. Dr. Ochasi is interested in exploring other safe and effective medical devices often discarded as medical wastes in developed nations that could improve the quality of life of the needy in LMICs. This research goal is supported by the ethical principles of respect for persons/autonomy, beneficence, distributive justice, and the Common Good.
Dr. Ochasi has provided preventative care for the vulnerable for over a decade through the Mercy Health Promoter program in Philadelphia. This community-based program offers preventive, observational, and educational duties in immigrant communities and makes referrals to the hospital when medically indicated for free. His future goal is to explore how to cost-effectively meet the healthcare needs of the growing number of undocumented, underinsured, and uninsured immigrants. The success of the community program could become a national model for communities struggling with access to healthcare.
Email: Aloysius_Ochasi@pba.edu
Formal Education
Ph.D. Organizational Leadership
Thesis Title – An Exploratory Analysis of Moral Distress, Moral Disengagement, and Ethical Climate among U.S. Medical Residents
Under the Supervision of Prof. Kirk Mensch (Ethics & Moral Psychology) & Dr. Mark Repenshek (Bioethics)
Eastern University
St Davids, PA. USA.
D.Bioethics: Ethics and Health Policy
Dissertation Title – Reuse of Pacemakers in the Third World: Medical, Legal, Cultural, and Ethical Perspectives
Under the Supervision of Prof. Summer McGee (Health Policy and Management)
Loyola University, Chicago, School of Health Sciences
Chicago, IL. USA.
M.S. Bioethics
Saint Joseph’s University
College of Arts and Sciences
Philadelphia, PA. USA.
S.T.L. (Licentiate in Sacred Theology): Theology (New Evangelization)
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Rome, Italy (In aggregation with Sacred Heart Major Seminary Detroit)
Detroit, MI, USA.
B.A. Theology
Pontifical Urbanian University,
Rome, Italy
B.A. Philosophy
Pontifical Urbanian University,
Rome, Italy.
B.A. Religion
Imo State University
Owerri, Nigeria.
Degrees
PhD in Organizational Leadership, Eastern University | Doctor of Bioethics, Loyola University | STL in Sacred Theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary | MA in Health Care Ethics, St. Joseph’s University