SCIE 220 - Medical Ethics

3 Hour(s)

This course will explore ethical decision-making in the fields of healthcare and biomedical research. Students will examine the ethical issues in human subjects research, including equitable recruitment of participants and obtaining informed consent, and in animal subjects research, including limiting the numbers of subjects and the invasiveness of treatments. Students will also consider ethical dilemmas faced by health care practitioners, such as: patient autonomy to choose or refuse treatment; patient confidentiality balanced with a practitioner’s duty to report; whether practitioners have a moral right to refuse to treat patients; and decision-making on behalf of patients when there are competing interests or unclear directives. (EI)

General Education Requirements: Ethical Inquiry