Bioethics Teaching Clerkship

This course affords graduate students a professional development opportunity to build skills that lay the groundwork for becoming an expert teacher. Direct, hands-on experience along with mentoring to develop teaching skills. Students develop lesson plans, lead small group discussions, obtain guidance and feedback by working closely with a faculty mentor to improve pedagogy methods and skills - grading, course website development & management. MA Bioethics graduate students only. Credit/no-credit only.

Global Perspectives in Bioethics

This course examines problems in bioethics from diverse global standpoints, including East Asian, Sub-Saharan African and Western. Our emphasis is on developing a deeper understanding of the cultural assumptions that lie just beneath the surface of bioethics debates. Readings are from contemporary philosophy, film and literature. We recommend prior course work in ethics, philosophy, or global health. Offered jointly with G H 419.

Justice in Health Care

This course is an examination of the ethical problem of allocating scarce medical resources. We will emphasize the fundamental principles of justice that support alternative health policies. The first part of the course introduces theories of justice, and considers the support these theories lend to the idea of a right to health care.

Ethical Issues in Pediatrics

This course provides a survey of contemporary ethical issues that arise in the clinical and research environment when children are involved, including the role of children and adolescents in decision-making, the limits of parental decision-making authority, and issues related to genetic testing, transplantation, research, and public health. Offered jointly with PEDS 562.

Social Justice and Health

This course examines the moral grounds for the view that social inequalities in health are unjust using contemporary literature from moral philosophy and bioethics, case studies, and film. We explore basic questions integral to determinations of social injustice as well as moral constraints on the pursuit of health equity.

Medical Ethics & Jurisprudence

This course examines the relationship between bioethics and law. Reviews the basic concepts of both disciplines; their theoretical and practical connections. Analysis of principle legal cases and statutes illustrating such issues as informed consent to treatment, foregoing life support, research with human subjects, confidentiality, and allocation of health care resources. Offered jointly with LAW H 503.

Social Science Research Methods

This course introduces students to research methods in bioethics, ranging from qualitative to quantitative: interviews, focus groups, surveys, and experimental and observational designs. Students write research questions, match research methods to research questions, and conclude with a proposal that uses a social sciences empirical approach to address their research question. Offered jointly with PHG 527.