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Major research themes:

  • Clinical ethics dilemma in low-income settings with a particular focus on bedside dilemmas and treatment of newborns
  • Teaching and capacity building in medical ethics and priority setting with a particular focus on context-adjusted teaching and training in low-resource settings
  • Moral distress and moral resilience
  • Priority setting, financial risk protection, universal health care coverage and policy recommendations
  • Ethical concerns for migrant health
  • Clinical ethics committees
  • Ethical challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic 

Identifying, describing, analysing, and discussing the many ethical dilemmas in medicine has been my focus as a researcher and as a teacher of students in medical ethics, as well as in practical ethics work as a leader in a clinical ethics committee.

I´ve been fortunate to be employed part-time as an associate professor/professor at the University of Bergen since 2012, as an ethicist at Haukeland University Hospital, and as a practising clinician. I also led the Organizing Committee for the 13th International Society for Priorities in Health Care PRIORITIES2022, which gave me a solid insight into priorities worldwide and an engaging network of researchers, policymakers and clinicians. I´m a member of the National Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics and the WHO Working Group on Clinical Ethics.

This triangulation of experiences and tasks has made me who I am academically, and the synergy serves as a great motivation to continue my purpose of conducting valuable research of high quality together with others, to facilitate the development of skills in handling real-life ethical challenges and to be an authentic adaptive leader and good colleague.

I´m part of the research groups BCEPSGlobal Health Anthropology Research GroupTeLEd 

 

    Main teaching obligations:

    • Medical ethics for medical students and denatal students, University of Bergen. 2007 -
    • Ethics, leadershop and priority setting. Various regular local and national courses for physicians, 2010-
    • TOT ME Ethiopia: Medical ethics and priority setting for lectureres/senior clinicians in Ethiopia (2 weeks yearly) 2012-
    •  

    International publications in peer-reviewed journals last six years:

      Schaufel MA, Schanche E, Onarheim KH, Forthun I, Hufthammer KO, Engelund IE, Miljeteig I. Stretching oneself too thin and facing ethical challenges: Healthcare professionals' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurs Ethics. 2024 Feb 

      McLean E, Blystad A, Mirkuzie AH, Miljeteig I. Health workers' experience of providing second-trimester abortion care in Ethiopia: a qualitative study. Reprod Health. 2023 Oct 17;20(1):154

      Melberg A, Miljeteig I. Den gylne regel for prioritering av rusbehandling og psykisk helsevern – en kvalitativ studie. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2023 Nov 6;143(16). Norwegian.

      Isaksson Rø K, Magelssen M, Bååthe F, Miljeteig I, Bringedal B. Duty to treat and perceived risk of contagion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Norwegian physicians' perspectives and experiences-a questionnaire survey. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022

      Cetin K, Worku D, Demtse A, Melberg A, Miljeteig I. "Death audit is a fight" - provider perspectives on the ethics of the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) system in Ethiopia. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022

      Bringedal BH, Rø KI, Bååthe F, Miljeteig I, Magelssen M. Guidelines and clinical priority setting during the COVID-19 pandemic - Norwegian doctors' experiences. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022

      McLean E, Onarheim KH, Schanche E, Schaufel MA, Miljeteig I. Ethical dilemmas for nursing home doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2022

      Ashuntantang G, Miljeteig I, Luyckx VA. Bedside rationing and moral distress in nephrologists in sub- Saharan Africa. BMC Nephrol. 2022

      Miljeteig I, Forthun I, Hufthammer KO, et al. Priority-setting dilemmas, moral distress and support experienced by nurses and physicians in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. Nursing Ethics. January 2021.

      Onarheim KH, Wickramage K, Ingleby D, Subramani S, Miljeteig I. Adopting an ethical approach to migration health policy, practice and research BMJ Global Health 2021

      Onarheim KH, Moland KM, Molla M, Miljeteig I. 'I wanted to go, but they said wait': Mothers' bargaining power and strategies in care-seeking for ill newborns in Ethiopia. PLoS One. 2020

      Blanchet, Karl; Alwan, Ala; Antoine, Caroline; (…) Miljeteig, I et al. Protecting essential health services in low-income and middle-income countries and humanitarian settings while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Global Health 2020 

      Magelssen M, Pedersen R, Miljeteig I, Ervik H, Førde R. Importance of systematic deliberation and stakeholder presence: a national study of clinical ethics committees. J Med Ethics. 2020

      Miljeteig I, Defaye F, Desalegn D, Danis M. Clinical ethics dilemmas in a low-income setting - a national survey among physicians in Ethiopia. BMC Med Ethics. 2019

      Miljeteig I, Defaye FB, Wakim P, Desalegn DN, Berhane Y, Norheim OF, Danis M. Financial risk protection at the bedside: How Ethiopian physicians try to minimize out-of-pocket health expenditures. PLoS One. 2019

      Johansson KA, Tolla MT, Memirie ST, Miljeteig I et al. Country contextualisation of cost-effectiveness studies: lessons from Ethiopia. BMJ Glob Health. 2019

      McLean E, Desalegn DN, Blystad A, Miljeteig I. When the law makes doors slightly open: ethical dilemmas among abortion service providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Med Ethics. 2019

      Berhane Defaye F, Danis M, Wakim P, Berhane Y, Norheim OF, Miljeteig I. Bedside Rationing Under Resource Constraints-A National Survey of Ethiopian Physicians' Use of Criteria for Priority Setting. AJOB Empir Bioeth. 2019 (corresponding author)

      Onarheim KH, Melberg A, Meier BM, Miljeteig I. Towards universal health coverage: Including undocumented migrants. BMJ Global Health 2018

      Onarheim KH, Norheim OF, Miljeteig I. Newborn health benefits or financial risk protection? An ethical analysis of a real-life dilemma in a setting without universal health coverage. J Med Ethics 2018

      Onarheim KH, Sisay MM, Gizaw M, Moland KM, Norheim OF, Miljeteig I. Selling my sheep to pay for medicines - household priorities and coping strategies in a setting without universal health coverage. BMC Health Serv Res. 2018

      Onarheim KH, Sisay MM, Gizaw M, Moland KM, Miljeteig I. What if the baby doesn't survive? Health-care decision making for ill newborns in Ethiopia. Soc Sci Med 2017

      Melberg A, Onarheim KH, Spjeldnæs AO, Miljeteig I. Towards universal health coverage for undocumented migrants? Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2017

      Miljeteig I, Berhane F, Desalegn D. A Call for Open Access and Empathy Is Not Enough: Hands on Are Needed! Am J Bioeth. 2017

      Miljeteig I, Onarheim KH, Defaye FB, Desalegn D, Norheim OF, Hevrøy O, Johansson KA. Ethics capacity building in low-income countries: Ethiopia as a case study. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2017

      Magelssen M, Miljeteig I, Pedersen R, Førde R. Roles and responsibilities of clinical ethics committees in priority setting. BMC Med Ethics 2017.

      Luyckx VA, Miljeteig I, Ejigu AM, Moosa MR.  Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Dialysis in Resource-Constrained Environments. Semin Nephrol. 2017

      Book chapters:

      • Miljeteig I, Desalegn D, Defaye FB, Melkie A, Onarheim KH. Chapter 3: “Priorities at the Bedside: Experiences of Catastrophic Health Expenditures in Ethiopia” in “Global Health Priority-Setting: Beyond Cost-Effectiveness”, Oxford University Press. 2020
      • Miljeteig, Ingrid; Førde, Reidun. Helseetikk i et flerkulturelt samfunn. I: Etikk i helsetjenesten. Gyldendal Akademisk 2020
      • Miljeteig, Ingrid; Tranvåg, Eirik Joakim. Prioriteringer av helseressurser. I: Etikk i helsetjenesten. Gyldendal Akademisk 2020

       

      PhD thesis:

      End-of-life priorities in complex settings: An ethical analysis of decisions in Indian neonatal units. : Universitetet i Bergen 2010. 200 s. 
      UiB  Available at http://hdl.handle.net/1956/4189


       

      Norwegian publications in peer reviewed journals:

      Morken S, Halset S, Miljeteig I. ”Familyplanning in India" Tidsskr Nor Legeforen 2012 Apr 30;132(8):985-7

      Bærøe K, Ottersen T, Eide K, Engjom H, Johansson KA, Miljeteig I, et al. Priority setting in global health. Tidsskr Nor Legeforen 2011; 131:1667-

       Johansson KA, Miljeteig I. Ethical priority setting of health services. Utposten. 2010;4:22

      Johansson KA, Miljeteig I, Norheim OF. High-cost medicine: Are we short of transparent and legitimate priority setting procedures? Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen. 2009 Jan 1;129(1):17-20.

      Miljeteig I, Johansson KA, Norheim OF. Ethical choices in medical futile treatment.Tidsskr Nor Legeforen 2008;19(128):2185-9.

       

      Other publications:

       Miljeteig I, Onarheim KH, Strømme EM, Johansson KA: Fair Prioritysetting in global child health. Morgenbladet June 2012

      Johansson K.A, Miljeteig I. Fair use of cost data. Tidsskr Nor Legeforen. 2010;130:144

       Miljeteig I, Johansson KA. The unsolved dilemmas. The priority setting debate needs clarifications of concepts. Chronicle in the newspaper Bergens Tidene 09.07.2010 

      Miljeteig I, Johansson KA. Ethics on the timetable - a traveling letter from India.Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 2002;19(122):1916-7.

      Narvestad J, Miljeteig I. ”Medisinstudenter sprer kunnskap om omskjæring av kvinner”. Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 2002; 122: 866

       

       

      • Show author(s) (2024). Stretching oneself too thin and facing ethical challenges: Healthcare professionals’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing Ethics.
      • Show author(s) (2023). Health workers’ experience of providing second-trimester abortion care in Ethiopia: a qualitative study. Reproductive Health. 8 pages.
      • Show author(s) (2023). Den gylne regel for prioritering av rusbehandling og psykisk helsevern – en kvalitativ studie. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 1-7.
      • Show author(s) (2022). “Death audit is a fight” – provider perspectives on the ethics of the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) system in Ethiopia. BMC Health Services Research. 11 pages.
      • Show author(s) (2022). Guidelines and clinical priority setting during the COVID-19 pandemic – Norwegian doctors’ experiences. BMC Health Services Research. 1-9.
      • Show author(s) (2022). Etiske dilemmaer for sykehjemsleger under covid-19-pandemien. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 1-9.
      • Show author(s) (2022). Duty to treat and perceived risk of contagion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Norwegian physicians’ perspectives and experiences—a questionnaire survey. BMC Health Services Research. 1-9.
      • Show author(s) (2022). Bedside rationing and moral distress in nephrologists in sub- Saharan Africa. BMC Nephrology.
      • Show author(s) (2021). Priority-setting dilemmas, moral distress and support experienced by nurses and physicians in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. Nursing Ethics. 66-81.
      • Show author(s) (2020). ‘I wanted to go, but they said wait’: Mothers’ bargaining power and strategies in careseeking for ill newborns in Ethiopia. PLOS ONE. 1-15.
      • Show author(s) (2020). Protecting essential health services in low-income and middle-income countries and humanitarian settings while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Global Health. 1-9.
      • Show author(s) (2020). Prioriteringer av helseressurser. 169-178. In:
        • Show author(s) (2020). Etikk i helsetjenesten. Gyldendal Akademisk.
      • Show author(s) (2020). Helseetikk i et flerkulturelt samfunn. 180-188. In:
        • Show author(s) (2020). Etikk i helsetjenesten. Gyldendal Akademisk.
      • Show author(s) (2019). When the law makes doors slightly open: ethical dilemmas among abortion service providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Medical Ethics. 10 pages.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Priorities at the bedside: experiences of catastrophic health expenditure in Ethiopia.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Importance of systematic deliberation and stakeholder presence: A national study of clinical ethics committees. Journal of Medical Ethics. 66-70.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Financial risk protection at the bedside: How Ethiopian physicians try to minimize out-of-pocket health expenditures. PLOS ONE. 1-16.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Country contextualisation of cost-effectiveness studies: lessons from Ethiopia. BMJ Global Health. 1-9.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Clinical ethics dilemmas in a low-income setting - a national survey among physicians in Ethiopia. BMC Medical Ethics. 1-13.
      • Show author(s) (2019). Bedside Rationing Under Resource Constraints—A National Survey of Ethiopian Physicians’ Use of Criteria for Priority Setting. AJOB Empirical Bioethics. 125-135.
      • Show author(s) (2018). Towards universal health coverage: including undocumented migrants. BMJ Global Health.
      • Show author(s) (2018). Selling my sheep to pay for medicines - Household priorities and coping strategies in a setting without universal health coverage. BMC Health Services Research. 1-12.
      • Show author(s) (2018). Priority to the newborn? Real-life priority setting and intra-household resource allocation for newborn health in Ethiopia .
      • Show author(s) (2018). Newborn health benefits or financial risk protection? An ethical analysis of a real-life dilemma in a setting without universal health coverage. Journal of Medical Ethics. 524-530.
      • Show author(s) (2017). What if the baby doesn't survive? Health-care decision making for ill newborns in Ethiopia. Social Science and Medicine. 123-130.
      • Show author(s) (2017). Roles and responsibilities of clinical ethics committees in priority setting. BMC Medical Ethics.
      • Show author(s) (2017). Etikkarbeid i lavinntektsland: Etiopia som eksempel (Ethics capacity building in low income countries: Ethiopia as a case). Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening.
      • Show author(s) (2017). Ethics capacity building in low-income countries: Ethiopia as a case study. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening.
      • Show author(s) (2017). Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Dialysis in Resource-Constrained Environments. Seminars in Nephrology. 273-286.
      • Show author(s) (2017). A Call for Open Access and Empathy Is Not Enough: Hands on Are Needed! American Journal of Bioethics.
      • Show author(s) (2015). Towards universal health coverage for reproductive health services in Ethiopia: Two policy recommendations. International Journal for Equity in Health.
      • Show author(s) (2015). A survey of Ethiopian physicians’ experiences of bedside rationing: extensive resource scarcity, tough decisions and adverse consequences. BMC Health Services Research. 1-8.
      • Show author(s) (2013). Skal rusmiddelavhengige pasienter tilbys hjerteklaffkirurgi for andre gang? Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 977-980.
      • Show author(s) (2012). Prioritizing child health interventions in Ethiopia: modeling impact on child mortality, life expectancy and inequality in age at death. PLOS ONE. 9 pages.
      • Show author(s) (2011). HIV priorities and health distributions in a rural region in Tanzania: a qualitative study. Journal of Medical Ethics. 221-226.
      • Show author(s) (2010). End-of-life priorities in complex settings: An ethical analysis of decisions in Indian neonatal units.
      • Show author(s) (2010). End-of-life decisions as bedside rationing. An ethical analysis of life support restrictions in an Indian neonatal unit. Journal of Medical Ethics. 473-478.
      • Show author(s) (2009). Impact of Ethics and Economics on End-of-Life Decisions in an Indian Neonatal Unit. Pediatrics. E322-E328.
      • Show author(s) (2009). Høykostnadsmedisin - mangler vi åpne og legitime prosedyrer for prioritering? Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 17-20.
      • Show author(s) (2008). Etiske valg ved medisinsk nytteløs behandling. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 2185-2189.
      • Show author(s) (2007). Physicians' use of guidelines and attitudes to withholding and withdrawing treatment for extremely premature neonates in Norway. Acta Paediatrica. 825-829.
      • Show author(s) (2006). My job is to keep him alive, but what about his brother and sister? How Indian doctors experience ethical dilemmas in neonatal medicine. Developing World Bioethics. 23-32.

      More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)

      Supervision: 

      Ongoing

      • Emily McLean (MD) on the project. “Ethical dilemma and abortion in Ethiopia”. Main supervisor. 2015-

      • Nina Kleven-Madsen PhD-candidate on the project “Ethical challenges and priority decisions experienced by leaders and health care professionals treating trauma patients in Malawi: a qualitative study. Main supervisor. 2021-

      • Mulu Beyene Kidanemariam, PhD-candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. Co-supervisor. 2020-

      • Gabrielle Leonie Schwartz (MD) PhD-candidate on the project “Very elderly patients ́ preferences and participation in shared decision making in the event of acute life-teratening illness. Co-supervisor. 20121-

      • Kaya Celin, medical student on PhD track. Main supervisor. 2019 –

      • Dawit Nema Desalegn (MD) PhD-candidate on the project “An implementation study on how to increase awareness, skills and knowledge in medical ethics among Ethiopian health workers” Main supervisor. 2015 –

      • Two medical student who write their thesis. 2020 -

       

      Finished:

      • Kristine Husøy Onarheim (MD, PhD) on the project “Priority to the ill newborn? Real-life priority setting and intra household resource allocation for newborn health in Ethiopia”. UiB. Defended in April 2018. Main supervisor.

      • Valerie Luyckx (MD) PhD-candidate at Univers. of Zurich. “Dialysis-treatment in Africa”. Co-supervisor. 2016 -2019

      • Medical students at their PhD-track at UiB: Kristine Husøy Onarheim. Main supervisor. (2011-2014)

      • Emily McLean. Main supervisor. (2015-2019)

      • Wakuma Chala. Master in Emergency Medicine, Addis Ababa University. Co-supervisor. 2016

      • Eighteen medical students who wrote their thesis. 2010 -2022

           

      Read more about my projects at https://www.uib.no/en/bceps

       

      PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:

      • Professor in Medical Ethics, Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS), Department of Global Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen (UiB) (70% position) 2012 –
      • Leader in Clinical Ethics Committee, Bergen Health Trust (50% position) 2010 -
      • Deputy Director at Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS) UiB (20% position) 2019- August 2023
      • Special Advisor at the Addis Center for Ethics and Priority Setting (ACEPS), Addis Ababa University, 2017 - 
      • Leading the group MEDI (Medical Ethics and Decision Making), at BCEPS University of Bergen 2023 -
      • Member of the National Research Ethics Committee in National Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics 2021-
      • Leader of an Expert Group nominated by the Norwegian Government preparing advice on strategies to improve transparency in priority setting in health and how to increase knowledge and competency in fair priority setting for a new White Paper on priority setting in health. Due date 1 February 2023
      • Member of the WHO Working Group on Clinical Ethics. 2023 -

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