HCS-270 Ethical Considerations in Health Care
The purpose of this course is to involve the student in reading and discussing medical issues from an ethical perspective to create depth in our awareness of the moral problems that cannot be ignored and more often than not, cannot necessarily be solved. The scope of this course will entail examination of different ethical approaches to moral problems in medicine and their success or failure in a broad range of medical issues, including but not limited to: the physician-patient relationship, the role of the healthcare provider, euthanasia and death with dignity, rights to health care/costs of health care and an examination for important concepts such as autonomy, paternalism, rights, consent, and confidentiality. This course carries SUNY General Education Humanities credit.
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Course Outline
Department
Health Science and Human Performance
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to involve the student in reading and discussing medical issues from an ethical perspective to create depth in our awareness of the moral problems that cannot be ignored and more often than not, cannot necessarily be solved. The scope of this course will entail examination of different ethical approaches to moral problems in medicine and their success or failure in a broad range of medical issues, including but not limited to: the physician-patient relationship, the role of the healthcare provider, euthanasia and death with dignity, rights to health care/costs of health care and an examination for important concepts such as autonomy, paternalism, rights, consent, and confidentiality. This course carries SUNY General Education Humanities credit.
Credit Hours
3Semester(s) Course Will Be Offered
Fall, Spring, Summer
SUNY General Education Course
Course Learning Outcomes
- Explain foundational ideas in ethics.
- Apply fundamental knowledge about ethics and decision making strategies to ethical dilemmas across the lifespan.
- Integrate ethical principles, theories and decision-making skills into real world scenarios.
- Practice critical inquiry by analyzing ethical issues in health care.
Topic Outline
- 1. Introduction to ethics
- a. Ethics
- b. Bioethics
- c. Ethical decision making
- d. Ethics in professional practice
- 2. Adult health ethics
- a. Medicalization
- b. Chronic disease and illness
- c. Organ transplantation
- 3. Reproductive issues and ethics
- a. Maternal-fetal conflict
- b. Abortion and fertility
- c. Reproductive technology
- d. Vaccination
- 4. Ethical issues in the care of infants and children
- a. Global problems of poverty and infectious disease
- b. Abuse and neglect
- c. Surrogate decision making
- d. Universal vaccines
- 5. Adolescent ethics
- a. Risk-taking behaviors
- b. Adolescent relationships
- c. Health issues triggering ethical concerns
- 6. Psychiatric and mental health ethical issues
- a. Practice area of mental health: unique characteristics
- b. Boundaries
- 7. Geriatric and end-of-life ethical issues
- a. Life-prolonging treatments
- b. Euthanasia
- c. Physician-assisted suicide
- 8. Community and public health and leadership ethics
- a. Health disparities
- b. Communicable diseases
- c. Organizational integrity and trust
- d. Leadership