Recently Taught Courses-Medical Ethics-Bloomsburg

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Fall Semester 2007
Medical Ethics-Phil 290
Tuesday 6-9:00PM
Location: Room 202 Nursing Education Building, Geisinger Clinic, Danville PA

Instructor: Peter Wolf, Ph.D.
petermcguire4@verizon.net
Office hours: before class sessions, and by appointment.

Required Texts
Pence, Classic Cases in Medical Ethics (5th ed.), McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Tournier, Paul. The Meaning of Persons (out of print) [copies of this book may be ordered online at a reasonable price!]. http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?chunk=25&mtype=&qwork=4253851&S=R&matches=186&browse=1&qsort=r&page=2

Course Overview
Medical Ethics is an applied branch of ethics which addresses cases in medicine, bioethics, medical engineering, nursing, and social policy from the point of view of human value and the ‘good’. Ethical consideration of human health and wellbeing is as old as philosophy itself. Hence the student of medical ethics may be expected to know some of the most prominent ethical approaches and theories, as well as historical cases which have established important precedents in medical ethics. This course emphasizes ‘classic cases’ in medical ethics as a “window” through which we learn the ethical, moral, legal and political implications of these medical situations. We shall follow Pence’s book rather carefully, omitting only a few of the chapters from this fairly comprehensive book.

…The study of all of the physiological mechanisms of the body can never of itself lead us to a knowledge of the person (Tournier, 23). In addition to the study of cases, we will assimilate a positive ideal of the human person and healing as a goal for medical ethics. We will read Paul Tournier’s classic work The Meaning of Persons, as well as additional reading materials to be supplied by the instructor and studied online in order to discern a positive ethic of life.

The course will be of great value to any student pursuing a career in the allied health professions: nursing, medicine, veterinary science, emergency rescue, medical policy, medical laboratory work, research…

Course Schedule
8/28 First class meeting. Meet class, Set forth goals for our class. Discuss assignments, teacher’s expectations, class guidelines and assignment schedule. 5 Ds method of case study analysis.
Chapter 8: “Moral reasoning and Ethical Theories in Medical Ethics” Students are expected to type class notes based upon this lecture.

9/04 Quiz on chapt. 8 in Pence’s book and 5 Ds. Typed class notes due. Lecture on Chapter 2 (“Comas”) in Pence’s book (students are expected to have carefully read each chapter prior to class lecture and be able to respond to specific and detailed questions as well as to participate in class discussion).

9/11 Lecture: Chapter 1 in Pence: “Requests to Die”.

9/18 Lecture: Chapter 3 in Pence: “Physician-Assisted Dying”.

9/25 Test on Part One of Pence Book. Lecture: Chapter 4 in Pence: “Abortion”.

10/2 Lecture: Chapter 6 in Pence: “Battles over Embryos and Stem Cells”; Tournier: 11-63.

10/9 Lecture: Chapter 7 Pence: “Reproductive Cloning”; Quiz on Pence Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 6. Tournier: 67-83.

10/16 Lecture: Chapter 9 Pence: “Letting Impaired Newborns Die”. Tournier: 84-119.

10/23 Test on Part II of Pence’s text including Part II of Tournier’s book. Lecture on Chapter 10 of Pence: “Animal Subjects”.

10/30 Lecture on Chapter 11 in Pence: “Human Subjects”. Tournier: 123-140.

11/6 Tournier: 141-158. Quiz on chapters 10 and 11 in Pence, including questions on Tournier, pp.123-158.

11/13 Test on chapters 10 and 11 of Pence, and Tournier, pp. 123-158. Lecture on Chapter 13 in Pence. Tournier: 159-176.

11/20 Lecture on Pence Chapter 15: Tournier: 179-197.

11/27 Lecture on Pence Chapter 18: “Reforming the American Medical Association: Expanding Medicare?” Tournier: 198-216. Quiz on Pence Chapters 13 and 15; Tournier 159-176.

12/04. Review for Final exam: Pence Chapters 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, and 18. Final reading in Tournier: 217-234.

12/11 Final exam.

Grading
Four quizzes weighted at 20% (5% per quiz)
Three tests weighted at 45% (15% per test)
Final Exam weighted at 25%
Participation/Attendance weighted at 10%
Total: 100%

Statement on Academic Integrity
The following types of behaviors are examples of academic dishonesty. This list is not, and cannot be, exhaustive. Students who are unsure if an act is academically dishonest have a duty to consult their professor before engaging in the act.
1. Cheating: (a) Using notes, study aids, or information on an examination which are not approved by faculty; (b) Altering graded work after it has been returned and submitting the work for regrading; (c) Allowing another person to do one's work and submitting that work under one's own name; (d) Submitting identical or similar papers for credit in more than one course without prior permission from the course instructors.
2. Plagiarism: Submitting material that in part or whole is not one's own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source.
3. Fabrication: (a) Falsifying or inventing any information, data, or citation; (b) Presenting data that were not gathered in accordance with standard guidelines that defined the appropriate methods for collecting or generating data and failing to include an accurate account of the method by which the data were gathered or collected.
4. Misrepresenting Circumstances: (a) Lying; (b) Presenting a professor (verbally or in writing) with false or incomplete information.
5. Impersonation: (a) Representing oneself as another student in an examination; (b) Signing another's name on an attendance roster; (c) In general doing the work required of another student and/or allowing another to do your work.
6. Obtaining an Unfair Advantage:
(a) Stealing, reproducing, circulating or otherwise gaining access to examination material prior to the time authorized by the instructor; (b) Stealing, destroying, defacing or concealing library materials with the purpose of depriving others of their use; (c) Unauthorized collaborating on an academic assignment; (d) Retaining, processing, using or circulating previously given examination materials, where those materials are to be returned to the instructor at the conclusion of the examination; (e) Intentionally obstructing or interfering with another student's academic work; or (f) Otherwise undertaking activity with the purpose of creating or obtaining an unfair academic advantage over other students' academic work.
7. Aiding and Abetting Academic Dishonesty: (a) Providing material, information, or other assistance to another person with knowledge that such aid could be used in any of the violations stated above; or (b) Providing false information in connection with any inquiry regarding academic integrity.
8. Falsification of Records and Official Documents: (a) Altering documents affecting academic records; (b) Forging signatures of authorization or falsifying information on an official academic document, grade report, letter of permission, petition, drop/add form, ID card, or any other official University document.
9. Unauthorized Access to Computerized Academic or Administrative Records or Systems: (a) Altering computer records; (b) Modifying computer programs or systems; (c) Releasing or dispensing information gained via unauthorized access; or (d) Interfering with the use or availability of computer systems of information.
(Source: Bloomsburg University Policy-PRP 3512 Academic Integrity Policy) http://www.bloomu.edu/policies/3512.php

Attendance
Students may miss class without penalty in the following circumstances:
1.Personal Illness.
2.Death or critical illness in the student’s immediate family.
3.University sport or other co-curricular sanctioned absence.
Source: University Policy PRP-3506.
http://www.bloomu.edu/policies/3506.php