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This occurrence is not offered in 2018
This course examines the history, legal, regulatory, monitoring and decision-making frameworks in the New Zealand health sector.
Decisions made in the delivery of health care often involve making moral choices when the ‘right’ thing to do is not immediately obvious. In New Zealand bioethics 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:Bioethics in a global contextThe nature of moral/ethical issues in health care settingsRegulatory and disciplinary frameworks governing ethical decision-making in New Zealand
Subject to approval of the Head of School
HLTH407, HLTH607, PHIL325, PHIL434
PHIL434
(W, Th, F): Sept 12, 13, 14
Thomas Harding
The co-ordinator and lecturer from the 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).
The course is taught in accordance with University policies. Assessment information and grading system will be posted on UC LEARN2.
Munson, Ronald; Intervention and reflection : basic issues in bioethics ; 9th ed; Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Bergland, Catherine Anne; Ethics for health care ; 4th ed; Oxford University Press, 2012.
Have, H. ten; Global bioethics : an introduction ;
Kuhse, Helga. , Singer, Peter; A companion to bioethics ; 2nd ed; Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Required reading:Topics will have assigned readings that will be referenced on LEARN2, the University’s online course support website http://www.learn.canterbury.ac.nz/, or sourced by students from the UC library databases.Students will be required to access and download PDF files of journal articles from UC Library.
Library portalhttp://learn.canterbury.ac.nz
Grading ScaleGrade GPA Value MarksA+ 9 90 – 100A 8 85 – 89.99A- 7 80 – 84.99B+ 6 75 – 79.99B 5 70 – 74.99B- 4 65 – 69.99C+ 3 60 – 64.99C 2 55 – 59.99C- 1 50 – 54.99D 0 40 – 49.99E -1 0 – 39.99A Pass is 50 marks or over
Students will be expected to submit their assessment via the online assessment system in the Learn class site by 5.00pm on or before the due date. The lecturer may also ask students to submit assessment work through the software Turnitin, to check for plagiarism. If this option is available students will submit work through Turnitin and obtain a report, after submitting assignments for marking via the Learn site.It is the responsibility of the students to check their Internet access and ability to submit their work via the online system. Any technical difficulties should be notified well in advance of the due date so that assistance can be provided or alternative arrangements can be negotiated. If you require assistance, please email ictservicedesk@canterbury.ac.nz, or phone 366 7001 ext 6060.
Domestic fee $1,054.00
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 .