Bioethics in Social Work in Diverse Healthcare Settings

Catalog description

As medical technology develops and evolves, ethical dilemmas are occurring more frequently in many diverse healthcare settings. Social workers play an integral and unique role in bioethics: primarily as patient advocates but also as guardians of autonomy and dignity. This can come into direct conflict with decisions patients, families, and healthcare teams are asked to make on a daily basis in healthcare settings. This course will explore many of the major ethical challenges confronting medicine, social work, and biomedical sciences. We will examine legal, institutional and personal positions, beliefs, and values as we consider and debate opposing arguments. You will be challenged to think and write critically, utilizing philosophical, bioethical, and social work frameworks to structure your arguments and ethical decision making. This course will prepare students to actively participate in ethics committees, mediation, patient/family conferences with diverse populations and interdisciplinary collaborative discussions regarding ethical issues in medical settings.