Final Reflections

Thank you for your participation in this class.  I hope you will be able to complete the in-class course evaluations.  It would also be helpful to me if you could comment on each question below.  

1. So, what is medical ethics? Is it an important subject to study? Why/why not?
2. Reflect on your experience in this class.  Were you able to contribute to class discussion?  Were you well-prepared?  An active participant in class? Active on-line?  Why/why not?
3. What is the most valuable idea/lesson/argument/skill you will take away from class?
4. What is still confusing to you or never seemed worthwhile?
5. Is the blog helpful in understanding the material?  Please explain how I could improve the use of the blog for real understanding of the course material.  Comment on frequency of required postings, topics,% of final grade, etc.
6. What have you learned in the course that surprised you?
7. What experience in your life resonated in this course?  Do you have any suggestions to better link your life experiences, and the experiences of students like you, with course material/topics?
8. Generally, why are you in school?  Do you think you would take more philosophy if money/time weren't factors?  Explain.

Case 38 CLOSED

Impress me with good analysis!

Case 13: Pain & Cultural Beliefs & Family (29 Nov) CLOSED

Case 45: Justice, Age, & Personal Responsibility (22 Nov) CLOSED

Case 29: Neonatal Care CLOSED

These cases aren't getting any easier, but I think you are getting more savvy at analyzing them.

Case 10: Economic Incentives in Health Care CLOSED

Recall our discussion about doctor-patient relationships and appropriate roles for health care professionals.

Case 9: Managed Care CLOSED

Dear Smart Students:  please look at this case in preparation for the campus speaker on Thursday 21 Nov.

Case 42: IVF & delayed twinning CLOSED

This is an awesome case!  Can't wait to hear what you say about it!

Case 34: Embryonic Stem Cells (25 Oct)

Dear Students,
To really impress me, go find out some current information about the state of the legal challenges to the Obama Administration's lifting of the ban/restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, referenced in this case. Otherwise, comment as normal.

Case 18: Unprotected sex & pt. confidentiality (18 Oct)

Dear Students,
Of course your first response should be:  NO SEX.  But, for the sake of discussion, please comment on Case 18.

Case 15: HIV surgeon & duty to disclose (18 Oct)

Class: you know the routine!

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

Dear Class,
What was your reaction to the film? Answer this generally, and then comment on 1 or 2 questions below.

• Did it make you reconsider what it would be like to be very sick, incapacitated, and/or unable to communicate?
• Did it make you reconsider how you treat other people who cannot communicate clearly? (I realize that there is a difference between someone who has none or very limited cognitive abilities and one who "merely" cannot communicate)
• What else did it make you reconsider?  How you spend your time & energy?  How you treat your friends & family?
• Where you relieved or distressed (or both) when he died?
• Did the film complicate your views of autonomy and/or paternalism? Explain.
• How did the technical aspects of the film enhance or detract from the story?  (Example: camera angles & use of point of view, focus, narrative structure & time sequencing, etc.)
• What does the title mean?
• I specifically wanted you to watch the film with subtitles because I think it makes is a bit more disorienting for you, which gives you more of a sense of what Jean-Do is going through.  Do you agree?  Comment further.

Current Events (September) CLOSED

A story on new changes in the law which will allow terminally ill children to pursue both palliative and curative care.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guidance-on-new-hospice-benefits-for-terminally-ill-children-hailed-by-hospice-and-palliative-care-community-102767944.html

Cases (& assignments) for Ethical Theory Exercises

Class,

For the cases below you are to represent the following viewpoints:
Utilitarianism:  Bennett, Bryla, Buechel, Caruso
Kant: Clifford, Compton, Dickman, Green, Hornsby
Virtue: Klare, Knolle, Kriege, La Corte
Ross: Morrison, Nielander, Okoth
Feminism: Sandmann, Snipes, Tinker, Traxler, Walling
Principles of Bioethics: Wegman, Whelen, Wyatt, Ziegler, Zink

Cases (comment on at least 2 of the 3 cases.  You may discuss separately and present one group view, or collectively respond to create the group response).  Please title your responses for ease of tracking.

1. Medline reports a study from July 2010 about 1 in 3 doctors reluctant to report their impaired or incompetent colleagues.  Full story here:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_101003.html

2. Another study, surveying 3, 700 doctors in Britain finds that nonreligious doctors hasten death more.  Full story at http://www.kirotv.com/print/24769207/detail.html

3. A paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at the ethics of offering payment to living people who donate a kidney.  "Summaries for Patients" synopsis at:  http://www.annals.org/content/152/6/I-46.full?sid=de8db5fe-8228-48f1-9922-0a7a239c7ece

Case 12 Office Nurse & Informed Consent (4 Oct)

Case 8 Aggressive Ads for Cosmetic Surgery (27 Sept)

Case 5 Dentist & Pt Autonomy (20 Sept)

Case 3 Pt Responsibility 20 Sept

Case 25 Honoring a Living Will (20 Sept)

Case 26 Minor's refusal of life-sustaining tx (13 Sept)

Comment on the questions from the case, and then comment broadly.

Current Events

We'll keep this post going throughout the semester.  Post current events here!

Questions about Ethical Theories CLOSED

Is something still unclear regarding Kant, Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics, the Principles of Bioethics, etc.?  Ask your questions here!

A Death of One's Own

We started a discussion about the film from the first day of class, but you might have more to say about it.  I've emailed you a list of some questions to prompt you, or feel free to comment on other aspects of the film, our discussion, related current events, etc.

Introductions

Dear Students,
Welcome to Bioethics. I think you are going to learn a lot, work hard, and enjoy this class. We'll talk about many topics you already think you know and others that are fresh and new. You'll improve your analytic thinking skills, your active listening abilities, and develop your empathetic capacities for seeing many sides of each issue.

Let's start by introducing ourselves, so we can jump on in to some engaged dialogue about these serious philosophical topics.

I'm your professor--Cate Sherron. Please call me "Dr. Cate." I have been teaching bioethics (also called medical ethics) for over 10 years--as long as I have been at TMC. I studied medical ethics as an undergraduate at Miami University--I have a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing in medical ethics (a mouthful, eh?). I loved medical ethics so much, I went to graduate school to continue my studies, finishing an MA in medical ethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I switched to philosophy of science studies for my Ph.D., but have never lost my interest in medical ethics.

Other relevant information about me.... last year I conducted a workshop in medical ethics for the medical social workers at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital. I sit on the ethics board for Hospice of the Bluegrass. (Apparently I am a part of one of those notorious "death panels"--we can talk more about that in class!!). I am also a volunteer with Hospice, as part of what is called the 11th Hour Program--I sit with actively dying patients who have no one else to be with them.

My other non-academic interests include travel, hosting foreign exchange students, swing dancing, mountain biking, singing, cooking, reading, and gardening.

I am very much looking forward to having class with you.