Health, Ethics and Society

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject introduces and critically examines standard conceptual approaches to health ethics and provides an introduction to conceptual approaches within other relevant disciplines. Through the employment of these different conceptual approaches, the subject challenges students to identify and critically analyse issues in professional health practice and policy. The subject uses narratives from medicine, nursing and allied health to encourage students to explore the ethical dimensions of health care using the different disciplinary tools.

In this subject, we will discuss standard approaches in health ethics to a variety of issues, including informed consent, refusal of treatment, confidentiality, practitioner-patient relationships, and resource allocation. For each, we will also examine intersections with other disciplinary approaches, and so explore new and different ways of looking at the issues. This approach takes the subject into relatively new territory in health care ethics. Throughout the course, a common theme will be the nexus between theory and practice. Opportunities for students to reflect on their own experience and professional practice will be built in.

• read critically across a range of bioethics and social science disciplines
• critically analyse key relevant issues within the scope of the subject at an advanced level
• be open to critiques of standard approaches in health ethics
• apply theoretical concepts to key issues within the scope of the subject at an advanced level.

Analyses of set readings x 2 (2,000 words) (40%); Final essay (3,000 words) (60%)

Guillemin, M., & Gillam, L. (2006) Telling moments: Everyday ethics in health care, Melbourne, IP Communications.

A set of readings will also be available for purchase.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.