Bioethics Curriculum

This course will introduce students to different models of the patient-clinician relationship, both in the ideal as well as models that do not reflect the highest values of care. By contrasting different manifestations of the patient-clinician relationship, this course will provide tools to answer the question of how relationships are actually made and how they can be improved.

This course will introduce students to the moral theories/ethical frameworks used in biomedical ethics as well as various topics related to the ethical implications of biotechnology and health care. In contrasting different methods of decision-making, the course will provide tools to answer the question of how decisions are actually made. It will give students theoretical and practical illustrations to prepare them to engage ethical deliberation and scholarly research related to biomedical ethics.

This course introduces the student to the ways in which physicians and other medical professionals make decisions. Students will learn how to aggregate data to consider different possible health outcomes of various medical decisions. The course will also introduce students to the various heuristics that physicians and other medical professionals use when they must make decisions quickly. In contrasting different methods of decision-making, the course will provide tools to answer the question of how decisions actually are made.

The course will introduce students to the basic principles in medical ethics as well as how the ethics of the medical profession is grounded in the law. Students will learn about the principle of autonomy, which includes its application in confidentiality and informed consent; the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, and issues.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues regarding circumstances of end of life care. It will discuss how to treat terminally ill patients, definitions of death, the autonomy of the dying patient. The course will also teach students how to identify the needs of the dying patient and family, along with how to meet those needs. Student will also explore their own individual feelings regarding the end of life.

This course will provide an overview of the philosophical foundations of two major perspectives on medicine and medical knowledge, namely, the biomedical model and the humanistic medical model. It will examine the metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological premises upon which these two models are based. By the end of the course, students should recognize that the two models are complementary rather than contradictory, and that the utilization of both models will best procure a positive patient-physician relationship in today's medical and social environment.

This course introduces the student to the ways in which culture influences health and medical decisions for the student to understand how different societies manage the social and cultural conditions that affect health. The course will use anthropological methodologies as applied to health and biomedicine to cover concepts related to cultural competence and responsiveness, cultural effects on biology, ethno-medicine, and understanding health activities as cultural practices.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues regarding circumstances of reproduction and neonatal care. In particular, it will examine the social and ethical issues surrounding contraception, abortion, surrogacy, reproductive technologies, genetic screening and engineering, the safety and consequences of transgenics and xenotransplantation procedures, cloning, and (moral) decision-making on behalf of neonates, considering the individual’s chance of surviving medical intervention and his/her future quality of life.

This course introduces the student to the different ways that illness, health, and medicine are portrayed in literature by exposing the student to authors and characters that come from different cultural backgrounds. While the reading list is by no means comprehensive, it is intended to convey how the perception of medicine is dependent not only on technical scientific knowledge but also on individual experiences and social norms. By contrasting the different perspectives of medicine that each week portrays, the course will provide tools for cross-cultural understanding in a multi-cultural medical environment.

This course will introduce students to the various ways that sex and gender bias and discrimination impact health care and social discourse, with the purpose of learning ways to check those biases and end discrimination personally and systemically.

This course will examine the reasons for the development of the Food and Drug Administration, the approval process of drugs, and the impact of pharmaceuticals on society. It will also introduce students to historical examples of unethical treatment of patients that were used to advance medical science and drug development. Students will also gain an appreciation for the economics of drug pricing, the communication of policies mandated by the government, major pharmaceutical litigations, the role of Wall Street and the financial markets in funding new therapies, and the current and historic work of the National Institutes of Health as it pertains to the pharmaceutical industry.

This course will introduce students to ethical healthcare decision-making during pandemics and disasters. The first part of the course will view ethical concerns related to public health; the second part of the course will focus on ethical concerns related to clinical care.

This course will analyze Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, with an eye towards how concepts such as purpose, happiness, justice, prudence, good habits, and friendship shape one's personal and professional aspirations. The course is meant to help students develop skills for purposeful self-reflection and to be able to engage others in thoughtful and value-driven ways.

While the Holocaust has traditionally been taught from a historical perspective, this course intentionally shows how the Holocaust continues to have contemporary ramifications for the ways in which the power of medicine and the promise of scientific progress can be used to subvert the basic human rights of those deemed inferior. The course also provides strategies and techniques to mitigate those risks in order to create opportunities to improve the future of society.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led all levels of government and our healthcare system to take unprecedented measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and minimize illness. This three-credit course integrates a science- and ethics- based approach to examine the difficult ethical decisions about allocation of scarce resources, prioritization guidelines for vaccines and medical countermeasures, curtailment of individual freedoms, and closing of public spaces. The objective of this course is to enable decision makers to identify competing values and interests, weigh relevant considerations, identify options and make well-considered and justifiable decisions.

This course is designed to help students master the multi-disciplinary skills and diverse cultural principles and guidelines to develop an ethical approach to deal with CRISPR and gene editing technologies. The future of genome editing and precise genome engineering is adapting, evolving and unfolding at lightning speed raising many ethical challenges that need to be discussed. The various skill sets that this course are designed to develop include: 1) Skills to understand basic scientific and medical knowledge about gene editing and in particular CRISPR technology to tackle the various ethical challenges that have emerged from these pandemics, Explain the way in which CRISPR can be used as a tool to edit genes. Analyze how CRISPR can be used to optimize microbes for the food, health, and energy industries. Compare the use of CRISPR in agriculture when optimizing crops with other applications. 2) Applying skill sets in philosophical, practical, and cultural ethics to address the ethical challenges of gene editing and CRISPR. Recommend guidelines for an ethical use of CRISPR by considering the ethical implications CRISPR genetic manipulation raises as the technology is developed. 3) Skill sets to identify new trends in medicine, research and ethics that will emerge as CRISPR technologies are applied to medicine, agriculture and food science, and 4) Developing a personal and organizational strategic ethical rubric to address and resolve ethical dilemmas.

Asynchronous; Set up an appointment via email

This course will introduce students to the moral principles found in the Jewish tradition that relate to the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues that are discussed in the Jewish tradition regarding circumstances of reproduction and neonatal care. In particular, it will examine the social and ethical issues surrounding contraception, abortion, surrogacy, reproductive technologies, genetic screening and engineering, cloning, and (moral) decision-making on behalf of neonates, considering the individual’s chance of surviving medical intervention and his/her future quality of life.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues that are discussed in the Jewish tradition regarding end of life issues. It will discuss how to treat terminally ill patients, definitions of death, the autonomy of the dying patient, and religious decisions regarding autopsies.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues that are discussed in the Jewish tradition regarding surgical procedures. In particular, it will discuss choices over whether to have surgery or not, the religious consequences that certain surgeries entail, how the Jewish tradition negotiates between the priority of saving lives and other religious demands, and the complex considerations regarding transplants.

This course introduces the student to the various ethical issues that are discussed in the Jewish tradition regarding the patient-physician relationship. In particular, it is designed to help students appreciate the ways in which Jewish ethical values can influence the practice of medicine and the clinical encounter between doctors and patients. The course also attempts to make students more aware of the issues to be identified in clinical settings whereby the patients' and doctors' consideration of treatment options may be based on competing ethical values.

It is expected that the thesis will include some independent research and integration of skills acquired by the student through coursework. The thesis includes formulation of research questions, methods to carry out the inquiry and presentation of results of the research. The student should work through the program director and must maintain regular contact with the program and thesis advisors during the thesis work.

The practicum ensures that students have practical experience to support academic skills and information acquired within the field of medical ethics. For the practicum, students will choose from a number of pre-approved programs or internships, which will provide experience as to how to engage in the medical ethics issues that a professional confronts. Students who participate in the practicum are required to submit a journal of their experience, as well as a short analysis of one of the issues that they confronted as part of the project. Potential practica include:

• working with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Training Program at the Westchester Institute for Human Development
• receiving clinical pastoral education at Westchester Medical Center
• working with the Bereavement Center of Westchester
• working with rabbis and other religious figures to learn about religious sensitivities