Elective
CBHX 2407 Social Responsibility and Medical Activism
The purpose of this elective is to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and habits needed to fulfill their social responsibility as physicians. Because social problems have a profound impact on health and health care, physicians need to understand these problems and take some responsibility in addressing them. In this elective, we will consider various problems: people without health insurance, the cost of health care, care for immigrants and refugees, childhood obesity, and environmental harm. In each case, we will examine issues about justice and responsibility, and then we will analyze appropriate forms of advocacy and activism.
Contact Jim Dwyer at dwyerja@upstate.edu.
Required Courses
GS 618 Responsible Conduct of Scientific Research (Research Ethics) I
Biomedical scientific research is a complex undertaking, with a theoretical framework for how scientific progress should be made, professional norms about acceptable scientific conduct, and an ever-expanding array of ethical challenges following on the heels of technical advances. The complexity and rapid advance of biomedical research, as well as numerous instances of deception, conflicts of interest, and inappropriate care of animals or humans involved in research, suggest that merely having good intentions is not always sufficient.
This required course, using a case-based format, short didactic presentations,
and in-class exercises, helps graduate students:
- improve their moral reasoning skills in the context of scientific research;
- deepen their understanding of the professional norms of science; and
- gain an understanding of the regulatory framework and ethical principles
governing biomedical research.
Course topics include an introduction to scientific and moral reasoning, the regulatory framework governing science, and discussions of the pressures of science, authorship, plagiarism, peer review, collaborative research, mentoring, and data ownership/management and intellectual property.
GS 619 Responsible Conduct of Scientific Research (Research Ethics) II
This course builds on GS618 Responsible Conduct of Scientific Research (Research Ethics) I, briefly revisiting core topics in the responsible conduct of scientific research, and then covering additional topics, including: conflicts of interest, the regulatory frameworks governing the use of humans and animals in research (including an international perspective), and ethical issues in genetics and stem cell research.
Unlike the lecture-based format of Research Ethics I, given the students’ additional experience and lab assignments, this course will utilize a case-based format, short didactic presentations, and in-class exercises, endeavors to help graduate students:
- hone their moral reasoning skills in the context of scientific research; and
- apply their understanding of the professional norms of science to cases
Contact
Amy T. Campbell at campbela@upstate.edu
