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Rebecca Benson, MD, PhD

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics-General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

Introduction

Research Interests:

  • Impact of Pediatric Palliative Care on earlier use of hospice care and longer length of stay in hospice
  • Patient and provider satisfaction with addition of Integrative Therapy options

Current Positions

  • Clinical Professor of Pediatrics - General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
  • Director, Ethics Consult Service

Education

  • BA in Spanish, summa cum laude, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
  • BS in Chemistry, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
  • MD, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
  • PhD, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Resident in Pediatrics, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Chief Resident in Chief Resident Leadership Development Certificate Program, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Introductory Pediatric Clinical Hypnosis Workshop (21 CME credits), National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute, Chaska, Minnesota
  • Mediation Training (8-hour session taught by Steve Sovern (Sovern Mediation, LLC)), Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Certificate Program in Pediatrics Bioethics, Children's Mercy Bioethics Center, Kansas City

Graduate Program Affiliations

Research Interests

  • Impact of Pediatric Palliative Care consultation on patient outcomes, including family satisfaction with meeting goals of care, advance care planning, use of advance directives, and referral rates and length of hospice support.
  • Analysis of ethics consultations and team debriefing meetings, especially with respect to impact on moral distress and health care worker wellness.
  • Patient and clinician use of integrative therapy options and patient outcomes for specific types of therapies.

Licenses & Certifications

  • Hospice and Palliative Medicine
  • PALS Provider
  • American Board of Pediatrics
  • Iowa Physician License
  • NRP Provider

Selected Publications

  • Pinnaro, C. & Benson, R. (2016). Ethics. In McGraw-Hill Speciality Board Review: Pediatrics. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical.
  • Benson, R. & Pinnaro, C. (2015). Autonomy and autism: who speaks for the adolescent patient?. AMA journal of ethics 17 (4) 305-9. DOI: 10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.4.ecas2-1504. PMID: 25901697.
  • Becker, A. & Benson, R. (2014). Living as a young adult with a chronic complex medical condition. CHiPPS E-Journal 37 8-10.
  • Benson, R. (2014). Pediatric palliative care: a growing resource for Iowa's children. The Heartland Pediatrician, American Academy of Pediatrics, Iowa Chapter 2.
  • Benson, R. J. (2007). Innate and adaptive immune receptors protect B lymphocytes from CD95-induced apoptosis. United States – Iowa: The University of Iowa.
  • Benson, R. J., Hostager, B. S. & Bishop, G. A. (2006). Rapid CD40-mediated rescue from CD95-induced apoptosis requires TNFR-associated factor-6 and PI3K. European Journal of Immunology 36 (9) 2535-2543.
  • Benson, R. J., Khan, A., Davis, P., Bonthius, N. E. & Bonthius, D. J. (2004). Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). In Gilman, S. (Eds.) MedLink-Neurobase. (6) Arbor Publishing Corporation, San Diego.
  • Benson, R. J., Peaslee, G. F., Wilcox, J. D., Carlson, D. A., VanWyngarden, A. L. & Hansen, E. C. (1999). A comparison between PIXE studies and electron microprobe studies of rocks from southern India. (Vols. 475). (456) AIP Press.
  • Are Terminally Ill Patients Referred to Hospice? Physicians Play Biggest Role. In Medical Ethics Advisor.