Gail A. Van Norman MD is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine with more than 35 years spent in the clinical practice of anesthesiology. She has also been an Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. At the University of Washington, she has held the positions of Medical Director of the Preanesthesia Clinic, Physician Compliance Expert, and Acting Chief of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. She also served as Clinical Director and Director of Transesophageal Echocardiography Education for the Department of Anesthesiology at St Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. With fellowship training in cardiothoracic anesthesiology, and board certification and practice in internal medicine, her current clinical focus is perioperative medicine in the University of Washington Medical Center PreAnesthesia Clinic.
Dr. Van Norman is a clinical ethicist who served as a member of the Committee on Ethics for the American Society of Anesthesiologists for 19 years, and chaired the Committee. She was also a resident scholar of the Brocher Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. She is the author of over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks concerning clinical and ethical aspects of anesthesia practice. She is Editor-in-Chief of the textbook Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology: a Case-Based Textbook. Dr. Van Norman is a nationally and internationally invited speaker on the topic of medical ethics, ethics in anesthesiology practice, and perioperative anesthesiology, and provides expert consultation regarding ethical aspects of medical practice.