(relevant credit hours are listed in parentheses)
1. Health Care Ethics: Foundations
2. Health Care: Context
3. Health Care Ethics: Topics and Scholars
4. Other Courses
5. Additional Coursework for Students Entering Directly from Baccalaureate Studies
1. Foundations of Health Care Ethics [Back to Top]
HCE-G601 Philosophical Methods in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of philosophical methods of inquiry in health care ethics such as principlism, casuistry, professional virtue ethics, pragmatic bioethics, and libertarian bioethics.
HCE-G602 Religious Methods in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of the hermeneutical significance of different methods in religious ethics and a critical analysis of the implication of these methods for the development of ethical theory and practice.
HCE-G603 Applied Methods in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of the principal applied areas of practice for health care ethicists such as ethics committees, clinical bioethics, ethics consultation and mediation, government commissions, policy development, human research subjects protections, the press and the courts.
HCE-G604 Interdisciplinary Research in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of the assumptions and methods that guide interdisciplinary research in health care ethics. Special attention is given to the integration of factual knowledge from fields related to health care into normative, ethical arguments.
2. Context of Health Care [Back to Top]
HCE-G611 Introduction to Medicine for Ethicists (1)
This course is designed for non-physicians planning a career in health care ethics. It investigates basic clinical pathophysiology, diagnostics, therapeutics, and clinical culture. The emphasis is on biomedical information that might be relevant or useful in the practice of clinical bioethics.
HCE-G612 Health Care Law (3)
A study of the impact of law upon delivery systems, providers, and patients in health care, including: legal analysis in case law and statutes; legal process in health care; fundamental legal principles in health care law; critical judicial decisions and regulatory issues that impact American health care settings.
HCE-G660: Bioethics and the Law (2) [cross-listed with LW-L758]
This course examines legal issues in health care decision making in areas typically considered a part of bioethics. These topics include organ transplantation, genetic medicine, end-of-life care, determination of death, and experimentation with human subjects, among other topics. While the emphasis of the course focuses on cases, statutes and regulations applicable to these issues, the course also studies the leading approaches in ethics as they are applied in these situations. Finally, the course includes consideration of the primary processes used for dispute resolution in bioethics, including litigation, institutional ethics committees, and institutional review boards. A final examination is required. While students may also be required to complete one very short written exercise to familiarize themselves with practice in the field, no substantial written paper is required.
3. Health Care Ethics: Topics and Scholars [Back to Top]
HCE-G531 Humanism and the Health Care Humanities (3)
This course introduces the central themes in the humanistic tradition and explores the intersection between these and health care. Topics include Post-Enlightenment thought and its affect on health care; the tension between scientific medicine and humanistic approaches; and the critical, educational, and supplementary functions of the humanities in health care.
HCE-G613 Clinical Ethics (1)
A study of fundamental skills and core areas of knowledge essential for ethics consultation, integrating process and outcomes, to identify, analyze, and resolve ethical dilemmas, cases and issues that emerge in the context of patient care.
HCE-G614 Mediation Skills for the Health Care Ethicist (1)
This course is designed to build knowledge and skills for students pursuing a career in health care ethics who have no certification in mediation. It introduces the concepts of conflict, family dynamics, mediation, and negotiation. This course further investigates how these concepts apply to and further the successful resolution of problems that arise in the health care setting. It will also explore the differences between the use of bioethics consultation to reach an ethical conclusion and bioethics mediation to arrive at a party selected solution. This course is not meant to fulfill formal mediation certification requirements of this or any other state.
HCE-G615 Cultural Competence: Understanding in Clinical Contexts (1)
This course pays close attention to the philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of cultural competency education. The course will attempt to both sensitive students to the different culturally defined perspectives of patients and practitioners, as well as investigate the theory of understanding between interlocutors in clinical contexts.
HCE-G631 Health Care Ethics in the Catholic Tradition (3)
This course examines moral methodology and critical issues in Catholic bioethics, primarily through the lens of four contemporary moral theologians who present differing, sometimes opposing, viewpoints on the subject matter.
HCE-G634 Health Care Reform (3)
A study of governmental, organizational, and market developments in health care reform, including: social justice and the common good; fragmented health care, capacity, and cost; integrated delivery systems and the continuum of care; managed care, capitation, resource allocation, and quality; universal coverage, community health, and preventative care; information technology.
HCE-G635 Philosopher(s) in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of one or several philosophers in bioethics, including: the genesis of the scholar's thought and works (e.g., response to previous philosophical theories); a systematic critique of the method adopted (e.g., implications for social policy); an evaluation of the scholar's contribution (e.g., predominance of the method).
HCE-G636 Religious Scholar(s) in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of one or several religious scholars in health care ethics, including: the genesis of the scholar's thought and works (e.g., response to previous religious theories); a systematic critique of the method adopted (e.g., implications for social/ecclesial policy); an evaluation of the scholar's contribution (e.g., influence upon religious traditions).
HCE-G637 Psychological Issues in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of psychological issues as they relate to bioethics. Specific issues include: psychological interpretations of ethical behavior; psychological approaches to moral development; developmental approaches to moral education; and psychological factors embedded in controversial issues of interest to health care ethicists, such as sexual practices, suicide, and abortion.
HCE-G638 Clinical Issues in Health Care Ethics (3)
A study of specific clinical bioethical issues that arise in the care of adult and pediatric patients such as decision making capacity, surrogate decision making, the privacy of health records, futile and burdensome treatments, palliative care, rationing, and other clinical topics.
HCE-G639 Research Ethics (3)
This course introduces students to a range of topics in research ethics. The focus of the course is human research ethics, though issues of regulation and compliance will be discussed throughout. For each topic selected, there will be four main study elements: (1) identify the ethical issues that emerge; (2) identify the major ethical arguments concerning these issues; (3) assess the major arguments; (4) examine the relevance of these issues and arguments to particular instances of human subjects research.
HCE-G693 Special Topics (1-3)
4. Other Courses [Back to Top]
HCE-G641 Practicum (1-3)
This Practicum engages students in a variety of health care settings to experience the clinical environment, the public and community dimensions of health care, and the administrative aspects of health care. These experiences help students better understand the health care context. Students will reflect critically on ethical challenges in health care.
HCE-G651 Interdisciplinary Research Seminar: Dissertation Research in Health Care Ethics (0)
The interdisciplinary research seminar is recommended for students between the end of coursework and completing the dissertation. This seminar examines ongoing dissertation research, integrating the knowledge of method and systematic analysis in ethics, of intermediary study, and of foreign literature in health care ethics.
HCE-G652 Directed Research in Descriptive Ethics (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of at least nine semester hours within the Certificate in Empirical Research Methods program. This course provides the opportunity to design and carry out directed research in descriptive ethics. The course fosters the development of skills necessary to secure grant funding, to gain Institutional Review Board approval, and to do empirical research that can be integrated into the doctoral dissertation in health care ethics.
HCE-G653 Directed Research in Health Law and Ethics (3) [cross listed with LW-L885]
HCE-G695 Special Study for Examinations (0)
HCEG-697 Research Topics (1-3)
Prior permission of Program Director required.
HCE-G698 Graduate Reading Course (1-3)
Prior permission of Program Director required.
HCE-G699 Dissertation Research (0-6)
HCE-G6CR99 Doctor of Philosophy Degree Study (0)
5. Additional Coursework Requirement for Students Entering Directly from Baccalaureate Studies [Back to Top]
Students entering the PhD Program directly from baccalaureate studies additionally complete 12 hours of 500-level coursework to prepare them for the 600-level Foundations and Topics and Scholars courses.
A 3-credit hour graduate-level foundations of ethics course approved by the PhD Program Director or Department Chair.
3 Credits in the Foundations of Health Care Ethics: Students may take HCE-G501, HCE-G503, and another 1-credit, 500-level course offered as part of the Certificate in Clinical Health Care Ethics Program. Students may take an HCE Topics and Scholars elective or a suitable 3-credit hour graduate-level foundational ethics course available in another department in place of these three 1-credit courses.
HCE-G501: Foundations of Clinical Ethics (1 credit): A study of the principal ethical and legal norms that inform clinical ethics discussions. A range of theories and approaches will be studied, such as the role of virtues, principles, religion, and the law. An understanding of these areas is essential for understanding the disagreements that arise in clinical ethics cases and for analyzing such cases;
HCE-G503: Foundations of Catholic Health Care Ethics (1 credit): This course examines the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services to offer a critical appraisal of the foundations of Catholic health care ethics.
CMHC-502: Ethical Issues in Public Health. This course provides students with the tools required to recognize and engage successfully the ethical challenges that arise in public health work in a pluralistic society. (Students may take a suitable 3-credit hour graduate-level applied ethics course available in another department.)
3 credits taken from 500-level courses offered in the Certificate in Clinical Health Care Ethics Program (e.g., HCE-G510 Informed Consent; HCE-G511 Death and Dying; and HCE-G512 Pain Management and Palliative Care) or a suitable alternative.
Department of Health Care Ethics
Mailing Address: Department of Health Care Ethics
221 North Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103-2006
Campus address: O'Brien Hall, Frost Campus
Telephone: (314) 977-6661
Fax: (314) 977-5150
