DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL ETHICS

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL ETHICS
(MD) {MEDE}

Information about the Center for Bioethics and the Master's in Bioethics degree offered by the School of Medicine is available at http://www.bioethics.upenn.edu/masters. Courses are currently offered under the subject code BIOE.

540. Mediation and Healthcare. (M)

The contemporary healthcare system in which patients, families, institutions and a multiplicity of caregivers interact over matters of life and death with legal, ethical, emotional and scientific complexities inherently gives rise to a variety of disputes. Such disputes are frequently highly charged and are often emergent in nature. In recent years, mediation has grown exponentially as a dispute resolution mechanism of choice. Not surprisingly, the success of mediation and a wider understanding of the process, has led to its application in the realm of healthcare disputes with encouraging results.

This course will initially provide an overview of classical mediation theory and practice. Students will be introduced to negotiation fundamentals critical to the practice of mediation. Similarities and differences between mediation in the healthcare field, as distinct from other contexts, will be examined. All class members will participate in mediation role-plays designed to simulate disputes of the kind prevalent in healthcare landscape

550. Bioethics and Society. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses will deal with bioethical issues in popular culture addressed from a social science perspective. Courses to be offered include: "Sociology of Bioethics," and "Media and the Doctor-Patient Relationship."

551. Sociological Topics in Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses provides a rigorous introduction to the use of sociological methods and perspective to address bioethical topics and issues. Past courses have inclued the "Sociology of Medicine," Medical Errors," and "Sociology of Jewish Bioethics."

552. Anthropological Topics in Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses provides an introduction to the use of anthropological methods and approaches to address bioethical issues. Courses might include cross-cultural studies of medicine and doctoring, diversity and the culture of medicine, cross-cultural bioethics.

SM 553. Historical Topics in Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses provides a historical perspective on the field of bioethics and/or key issues or areas within the field. Courses that might be offered include the history of medicine and the history of science.

554. Religious Topics in Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses examine the role of spirituality in the field of bioethics. Courses might be taught from a single religious perspective or provide an overview of many different perspectives. Past courses have included "Spirituality and Bioethics."

560. Clinical Approaches to Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses examines issues in bioethics from the perspective of the practicing clinician, physician, nurse, or other health care professional. These courses will often use case studies or clinical experience to analyze or understand contemporary problems in bioethics. An example of such a course is "Clinical Dilemmas Through the Life Cycle."

570. Bioethics and Policy. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses will look at bioethical topics from either a legal or public policy perspective. Past courses have included: Ethics of Managed Care, Law, Medicine and Policy, and Legal Aspects of Healthcare in America.

580. Research Ethics. (M)

This class is intended to give students a broad overview of research ethics and regulation. The students will come out of the class with an understanding of the moral bases of scientific ethics and the historical evolution of biomedical research ethics. Students will be fully conversant with the development, implementation, and limitation of US human subjects regulation. The course will include reading assignments and lectures addressing the following topics: ethics and morality in science, science in society; scientific integrity; misconduct: from FFP to MIM; conflicts of interest; collegiality, publication, and authorship; ethics codes and regulation; research with human subjects; historical review of human experimentation; human subjects regulation (HHS, FDA), Institutional Review Boards; informed consent, waivers, vulnerable populations, privacy and the confidentiality of records; and research on animals.

581. Clinical Research Ethics. Prerequisite(s): Prior course work or evidence of competency in epidemiology, statistics, and health measurement are essential.

The purposes of this course are to examine the spectrum of bioethical issues encountered in the conduct of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics research and demonstrate both conceptual and empirical approaches to studying these issues.

The goal of medicine is to improve the health and well-being of persons, many of whom are called patients. To achieve this goal, medicine uses scientific methods to test the efficacy of interventions. As important and essential as these methods are, this goal health reveals medicine as fundamentally an ethical enterprise and the clinical trial as an instrument of social control. Hence, while most physician scientists do not think of themselves as engaging in bioethics research, their work has inherent ethical elements.

The goal of this course is to help students identify ethical issues in the design and conduct of clinical research, formulate ways to think about and plan empirical and conceptual investigations of these issues. The course examines a set of core issues in the design, conduct and translation of research results into practice. Course materials include papers or book selections that address conceptual and theoretical issues and empirical investigation of issues.

As a result of taking this class, students will recognize the moral and ethical aspects of their clinical research focus. This in turn will expand their vision of the implications and value of their research and the questions they pursue.

590. Philosophical Topics in Bioethics. (M) This is a topics course - for information on the topic currently being offered, please go to the course listing on the Bioethics website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mbe.

This set of courses provides a philosophical perspective on bioethical topics and issues. This can include courses that integrate ethical theory with concern for particular applications of theory or conceptual issues in medicine, health care, and the life sciences. Past courses have included Philosophy of Death and Dying, Genetics and Ethics, Philosophy of Medicine, Pragmatic Bioethics, and Feminism and Bioethics.

SM 601. Proseminar: Introduction to Bioethics. (A)

This course is intended to serve as a broad introduction to the field of bioethics. The course will focus on three of the most important areas in bioethics: Genetics & Reproduction, Human Experimentation, and End-of-Life. Each module of the course will cover essential bioethics concepts, relevant legal cases, and classical readings of that theme. Each module will include one guest lecture from our distinguished bioethics faculty.

602. Conceptual Foundations in Bioethics. (B)

This course examines the various theoretical approaches to bioethics and critically assesses their underpinnings. Topics to be covered include an examination of various versions of deontological theories, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, principlism, casuistry, feminist ethics, narrative theory, and pragmatism.

604. (BIOE504) Empirical Methods in Bioethics. (M)

This course provides an introduction to social science research design and methods for students interested in conducting research on issues in bioethics. The course is appropriate for students who, rather than conducting research themselves, will use research findings to make or challenge arguments in policy statements or other writings. Emphasis is placed on the logic of research design as the way to relate topic of inquiry with method so that evidence produced is pertinent and useful. Students will design research projects and xplore a variety of methods available to conduct research. Students will also learn to integrate research ethics into the formulation and design of their inquiries.

801. Introduction to Bioethics. Dr. Arthur L. Caplan. Prerequisite(s): This course is only open to dual degree Master of Bioethics/Nurshing PhD students. Students must have the permission from both the Department of Medical Ethics and the School of Nursing to take this course.

996. Research Topics. (C) This course is only open to students in the Master of Bioethics program.

This course serves as one of the two possible options for the final MBE project. This course requires students to work with faculty to produce original research that is of publishable quality. Past students have published in Nature, Science, and other prominent journals.

999. Independent Study. (C) This course is only open to students in the Master of Bioethics program.