Summer & Continuing Studies 2013

High school students should view Courses for High School Students.

Key:   = Session 1    = Session 2    = Extended Session

LGLS 131b - Patient Autonomy: Law, Medicine, and Ethics

4 credit hours
Instructor: Sarah Elisabeth Curi
Requirements Fulfilled: ss
M, W 05:30 - 07:30 PM

Extended Summer Session: June 3 to August 9, 2013
This course is designed to examine how health care decisions are made, and by whom. With a focus on patient rights, together, we will:
- explore how health care decisions are made, and by whom
- explore a range of current issues in the field of biomedical ethics, including the legal and ethical aspects of the physician-patient relationship, the doctrine of informed consent, medical futility, assisted reproduction, physician-assisted suicide, personhood, the right-to-die, clinical research, and emerging technologies.
- consider the conflicting roles and responsibilities for medical professionals and caregivers, and
- analyze hard and often tragic choices involving life, quality of life, and death
- assess the ability of the legal system to set standards and resolve conflict.

This course is about making choices - hard choices. Not only are these choices hard because they involve decisions about life, quality of life, and death, but also because there are often persuasive arguments on both sides of the issues. There are few easy answers. And, there is certainly much to think about and to discuss. Furthermore, we will find that patient autonomy impacts much more than just the individuals involved in making choices. The choices that we make - as individuals, groups, and public policy makers - influence the kind of society we have today and the one we will have in the future.

Thoughtful class participation is an essential element of this course.
After successful completion of this course, students will be able to thoughtfully consider and discuss a range of current and emerging ethical issues in modern medicine.

You can view a syllabus for this class here. This course is available for Undergraduate Credit only in Summer 2013.
Sage class number: 2102
Course Tuition: $2,320 plus a nonrefundable once per summer $50 registration fee