Course details

General
FacultyHealth Sciences
DepartmentMedicine
Education levelPostgraduate / Master of Science
Course codeC5Semester1
Course titleIntroduction to Bioethics
Independent teaching activitiesHours per weekECTS
Lectures1
Practice3
Total42
CoursetypeGeneral setting course, skills development
Prerequisite coursesNone
Teaching and assessment languageEnglish

Learning outcomes

Objective
  • Providing training and expertise for the dimensions of the individual problem associated with the practice of medicine and biomedical research and biotechnology applications, with the aim of producing academic work in these areas.
  • The training of doctors, biologists and scientists generally related to the subject matter skills and experience to be able to offer high-quality professional, research and general scientific work
  • The development of critical and research skills needed for doctoral studies.
Knowledge & Skills

The participants and the participants will be able and capable to know:

  • The methodological and epistemological reflections of contemporary vision of Bioethics
  • The need for inter-disciplinarity that characterizes Bioethics (humanities, biology, health sciences, law, social sciences)
  • The philosophical foundations of Bioethics, and the sociological and juridical dimensions
  • The moral argument for troubleshooting in the field of clinical medicine
  • Regulatory issues in health sciences
  • Issues Bioethics and Law

Course contents

  1. Code of Medical Ethics
  2. Code of Dental Ethics
  3. Medical, ethical and legal issues of end of life
  4. Ethics of Reproduction
  5. Ethics posts

Teaching and learning methods – evaluation

Teaching methodsFace to face
Distance learning
Use of information and
communication technologies (ICT)

  • Use of ICT in Teaching- Moodle Virtual learning environment (VLE)
    (asynchronous learning, wikis, Online Discussion Fora, Educational Portfolio, assignment submission, assessment process)

  • Use of ICT in Communication with students
    (email, instant messaging via Moodle)

Module structureWork Hours per SemesterActivity
Lectures 30
Exercises (Quiz) 5
Exercises (Wikis) 5
Exercises (Online discussion fora) 10
Exercises (Study relevant papers) 20
Essay background work40
Essay writing15
Overall work for the course125
Assessment Methods
  • Written assignment, in English, approximately 2,500 words long, to be submitted by each student at the end of the course

  • Assessment of knowledge at the beginning and the end of the course with short-answer questions and essays development

  • Weekly quizes, with multiple choice questions

  • Assessment based on comments submitted by each student in online discussion fora

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Murphy TF. LGBT People and the Work Ahead in Bioethics. Bioethics. 2015Jul;29(6):ii-v. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12168. PubMed PMID: 26053920.
  2. Bayefsky MJ, Saylor KW, Berkman BE. Parental Consent for the Use of Residual Newborn Screening Bloodspots: Respecting Individual Liberty vs Ensuring Public Health. JAMA. 2015 Jun 8. doi: 10.1001/jama.2015.6175. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26053685.
  3. Toraldo DM, Vergari U, Toraldo M. Medical malpractice, defensive medicine and role of the “media” in Italy. MultidiscipRespir Med. 2015 Mar 26;10(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s40248-015-0006-3. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26052439.
  4. Kim SY. ‘Human subjects research’ as stigmatized activity: Implications for oversight reform: (Commentary on Jonathan Baron’s “Some fallacies of human-subjects protection, and some solutions”). Cortex. 2015 May 8. pii: S0010-9452(15)00144-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.020. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed PMID: 26051212.
  5. Emond MJ, Louie T, Emerson J, Chong JX, Mathias RA, Knowles MR, Rieder MJ, Tabor HK, Nickerson DA, Barnes KC; NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project, Go L, Gibson RL, Bamshad MJ. Exome Sequencing of Phenotypic Extremes Identifies CAV2 and TMC6 as Interacting Modifiers of Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Cystic Fibrosis. PLoS Genet. 2015 Jun 5;11(6):e1005273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005273. eCollection 2015 Jun. PubMed PMID: 26047157.
  6. Clayton EW, Brothers KB. State-offered ethnically targeted reproductive genetic testing. Genet Med. 2015 Jun 4. doi: 10.1038/gim.2015.74. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26043291.
  7. Mavroidopoulou V, Xera E, Mollaki V. Awareness, attitudes and perspectives of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in Greece: a survey of potential consumers. J Hum Genet. 2015 Jun 4. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2015.58. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26040209.
  8. Prstačić M. Some reflections on human needs, peace, transculturality and Igbo proverbs in the light of Emmanuel Edeh’s African philosophy. CollAntropol. 2015 Mar;39(1):275-80. PubMed PMID: 26040105.
  9. Goldim JR. Genetics and ethics: a possible and necessary dialogue. J Community Genet. 2015 Jun 3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26038294.
  10. Mwinga A, Moodley K. Engaging with Community Advisory Boards (CABs) in Lusaka Zambia: perspectives from the research team and CAB members. BMC Med Ethics. 2015 Jun 3;16:39. doi: 10.1186/s12910-015-0031-y. PubMed PMID: 26037507; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4453219.