20809266Ethics in Medicine
Course Information
Description
Behavior within the healthcare system, whether as a patient or as a healthcare worker, presents challenges that differ from the typical consumer environment or the typical workplace. This course explores these differences and presents and discusses ethical issues particular to medicine. Heightens awareness and examines ways to conduct one's self within this healthcare environment.
Total Credits
3
Course Competencies
  1. Explain core terms such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and informed consent
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Define ethical terms clearly and accurately
    Explain the relevance of each principle in real-world healthcare settings
    Examine how these principles might conflict in clinical practice
    Distinguish these principles in context
    Compare how these terms function in practice

  2. Explain how ethical challenges in healthcare differ from those in other professional or consumer environments
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Identify core differences in ethical responsibilities
    Use real-life examples to highlight the uniqueness of healthcare ethics
    Examine how these differences affect your own moral expectations
    Evaluate sectoral differences in ethics

  3. Analyze ethical concerns that arise in real-world scenarios involving patients, providers, and institutions
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Accurately name the ethical issue in various scenarios
    Identify overlapping and conflicting obligations
    Analyze ethical challenges
    Examine complex scenarios involving multiple actors
    Describe a time when you witnessed or imagined an ethical concern in healthcare

  4. Describe how utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and care ethics apply to healthcare contexts
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Match ethical theories to brief scenarios
    Evaluate a case using all four theories
    Discuss which theory offers the best guidance for healthcare decisions
    Defend one theory over another
    Apply theories to clinical dilemmas

  5. Use ethical principles to analyze cases involving issues such as end-of-life care, consent, confidentiality, or reproductive rights
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, case study, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Identify which principles are relevant in short case studies
    Analyze how principles apply to a challenging case
    Apply ethical reasoning to a case involving a controversial issue
    Explain the reasoning behind multiple possible actions in a case
    Describe how your ethical stance shaped your analysis of a case

  6. Examine how patients, healthcare providers, families, and institutions may interpret the same ethical issue differently
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, case study, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Evaluate multiple perspectives in case studies that simulate a healthcare ethics consultation
    Compare competing ethical perspectives
    Evaluate several stakeholder viewpoints
    Analyze differing ethical priorities
    Examine how you personally navigate conflicting perspectives

  7. Explore how ethical decision-making is shaped by hospital policies, legal regulations, and systemic pressures
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Identify applicable laws and institutional policies
    Explain the influence of legal and systemic structures
    Assess your response to institutional limitations
    Assess how regulations influence patient care
    Analyze a policy-driven ethical dilemma

  8. Develop persuasive, well-supported arguments for how to ethically address specific problems in healthcare
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Develop a clear and persuasive ethical position
    Discuss alternative perspectives and counterarguments
    Evaluate and refine arguments
    Justify your position on an ethical dilemma
    Examine how your views have changed over time

  9. Examine how one’s own moral assumptions influence reactions to medical dilemmas and professional conduct
    Assessment Strategies
    Oral or Written product, quiz, and/or exam
    Criteria
    Identify your own values and how they shape ethical views
    Compare your personal moral intuitions to broader ethical frameworks
    Evaluate moral assumptions and professional expectations
    Explore differing values in morally ambiguous cases
    Analyze your ethical stances