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Advances in medicine, the health sector and the biological sciences raise many moral questions. This course examines both the theory and practice of bioethics issues such as consent and competence, privacy and confidentiality, ethics committees, organ donation and euthanasia.
IntroductionDecisions made in the delivery of health care often involve making moral choices when the ‘right’ thing to do is not immediately obvious. For example:What should clinicians do if they prescribe a treatment that they know will save the life of the person in their care but this is refused because a piece of popular literature that advises against it?What should managers do when clinicians want a newly developed, expensive piece of equipment that has been shown to improve clinical outcomes but the institution they work in cannot afford it?Bioethics is a recent phenomenon that was developed to help people make difficult decisions about health care, health research and the application of technical advances. In New Zealand the discipline came to fore in the mid-1980s after a Royal Commission investigated clinical research being carried out at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland, that had been on-going since the 1960s. An Auckland obstetrician and gynaecologist, Herbert Green, after observing many women who came to him for treatment, had come to believe that a condition called cervical dysplasia (where women were found to have abnormal cervical cells after a pap smear) did not always progress to invasive cancer. He therefore thought that the condition did not warrant the conventional treatment of the time, a cone biopsy or hysterectomy, as this had significant lifelong implications for the women involved, including affecting their ability to have children.The processes he used to test his hypothesis came into question, and were published in a popular magazine. The political fallout led to the then government setting up a Royal Commission of inquiry into his practices (the Cartwright Report, 1988). The inquiry led to the introduction of ethics committees, the development of codes of ethics and bioethical training for health professionals, health sector managers and researchers, and to the setting up of the role of Health and Disability Commissioner.
By the end of the course students will have an understanding of:Comparative moral theory and conceptsThe causes of moral/ethical issues in healthcare settingsThe types of moral issues faced by people working in the health sector, and their responsibilities in these situationsCritical appraisal techniques for resolving ethical dilemmas and their applicationRegulatory and disciplinary frameworks governing ethical decision- making in New Zealand
Subject to approval by the Director, Health Sciences Centre
HLTH433, HLTH434, HLTH607, PHIL325, PHIL433, PHIL434
HLTH607
Lectures and Lecturers:Dr Lauretta Muir, Course co-ordinator and lecturer, University of Canterbury, will teach the course along with a number of guests invited from within the University, health and other sectors. Students may also attend a regional ethics committee meeting as timetabling allows. (The Southern Health and Disability Ethics Committee (SHDEC) meeting dates had not been publically notified at the time of writing)
Lauretta Muir
HLTH407 students will be required to complete an online test, two pieces of written work, attend lectures and participate in class.Online Test: 25% - 8 August 2013Written Assignment: 25% (1500 Words) Due 19th August 2013Report: 50% (3500 Words) Due 4th October 2013
Munson, Ronald; Intervention and reflection : basic issues in bioethics ; 9th ed; Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Berglund, Catherine Anne; Ethics for health care ; 4th ed; Oxford University Press, 2012.
Kuhse, Helga. , Singer, Peter; A companion to bioethics ; 2nd ed; Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Parks, Jennifer A. , Wike, Victoria S; Bioethics in a changing world ; 1st ed; Prentice Hall, 2010.
Required reading:Each session will have assigned readings that will be referenced on the LEARN2, the University’s online course support website http://www.learn.canterbury.ac.nz/, or sourced by students from the UC library databases. Students are expected to have read these prior to each session.Students will be required to access and download PDF files of journal articles from UC Library.
http://learn.canterbury.ac.nz http://library.canterbury.ac.nz
The course is taught in accordance with University policies. Assessment information and grading system will be posted on UC LEARN2.Assessment and grading system Grade GPA MarksA+ 9 90 – 100A 8 85 – 89A- 7 80 – 84B+ 6 75 – 79B 5 70 – 74B- 4 65 – 69C+ 3 60 – 64C 2 55 – 59C- 1 50 – 54D 0 40 – 49E -1 0 – 39A Pass is 50 marks or over
For further information contact the Course Co-ordinator or the School of Health Sciences administrator, Ms Philippa Drayton: Ph 366 7001 Extn 8691, healthsciences@canterbury.ac.nz
Assignments are to be word-processed and submitted electronically via links on the UC HLTH407 LEARN2 website. Assignments will be marked and returned to students electronically via UC LEARN2.
Domestic fee $1,818.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see School of Health Sciences .