Download ME33EP Course Handbook 2013-14

UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
Medical Humanities
Medical Ethics Project
Course co-ordinator: Dr Alex Sutherland
Course Code: ME33EP
(15 Credits)
Session 2013-14
Course Handbook
UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
Medical Humanities
Medical Ethics Project
Course Code: ME33EP
(15 Credits)
Session 2013-14
This course can only be taken by MB ChB students taking the Medical humanities
SSC and only then as an option by those students taking Introduction to Medical Ethics
(ME33ME), they can therefore achieve a combined total of 30 credits.
The course co-ordinator and supervisor is Dr Alex Sutherland. His contact details are:
Dr Alex Sutherland
Co-ordinator Medical Humanities Block
Room 3:038 Polwarth Building
School of Medicine and Dentistry
Division of Medical and Dental Education
Foresterhill
AB25 2ZD
Tel: 01224 437213
Email: [email protected] Office hours will be advised
Course Structure, Aims and Outcomes:
Students will be able to work on any medical ethical issue using an appropriate approach
and appropriate sources as approved by the course co-ordinator. The aim is to give students
the opportunity to undertake an individual project of their own choice, and to produce an
extended essay and presentation. There will be a programme of deadlines for the essay
proposal, bibliography, progress reports and outline upon which feedback will be provided.
The presentations will be delivered towards the end of week 5 (11) of teaching.
Students will gain experience of preparing a project proposal, including the identification of
appropriate sources, aims and objectives, responding to comments by their supervisor,
undertaking the project and producing an extended essay and presentation under
supervision.
Assessment:
The course is assessed on an essay of between 3000 - 4000 words 9including
bibliography and footnotes) and a presentation; worth 80% & 20% of the assessment
respectively.
A resit will be assessed on one 3000 – 4000 word essay.
Projects in more detail
You are required to write one essay of between 3,000-4,000 words (including bibliography
and footnotes) and deliver a presentation lasting approximately 20 minutes (plus time to
take questions) on a medical ethical topic of your own choosing. You should discuss your
proposal in advance (in person, by telephone or by email) with the course co-ordinator who
must approve your choice. In addition, please consider whether the project you envisage
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requires ethical clearance. With this in mind, you will find guidelines at
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/clsm/staff/cerb/ and http://www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk/.
All projects must focus on medical ethics and the philosophy of medicine and should
display – where appropriate – an understanding of moral theories such as Utilitarianism,
Kantian Ethics, Rights Theory, Virtue Ethics, etc. Projects should make reference – if
appropriate – to such topics as moral norms, moral character, moral status, professionalpatient relationships and the moral principles of respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence,
beneficence, and justice which can be found in Beauchamp & Childress Principles of
Biomedical Ethics, the core reading for the Medical Ethics course.
Students are required to find their own sources but the books, journals and Internet sites
recommended and suggested in the Bibliography in the Course Handbook for
Introduction to Medical Ethics (ME33ME) would be a useful place to start.
The following list will give you some idea of topics you might consider for your project. It
is made up of suggestions only; it is not exhaustive and you are encouraged to propose
some topic of your own choosing. However, if you do wish to deal with some other topic
you must discuss it with your supervisor first to make sure it is suitable. Most of the list
suggests a United Kingdom bias but you are not restricted to the UK and your project can
be set anywhere (you could compare and contrast more than one country, for example) but
make sure you have enough source material. In this regard you will be expected to draw on
primary as well as secondary sources.
You may wish to deal with or answer one of the following:The ethical issues surrounding patients who have ‘self-inflicted’ or ‘lifestyle choice’
illnesses (e.g. diseases caused by smoking, alcohol, drugs, sexual activity, diet).
Is the right of individuals who indulge in behaviour that is harmful to their health
outweighed by the cost to society of treating any illness or injury that results?
Who should get infertility treatment; should it be free? Should it be determined by age,
marital status, number of other children, socio-economic status, etc?
Should cloning be made available just because the technology exists?
Ethical aspects of stem cell research.
Whether individuals with mental or physical disabilities should be allowed to have
children?
Should genetic modification only be used in the treatment or prevention of serious illness?
Should doctors have the right to treat patients with life threatening conditions even if
treatment is against the patient’s religious beliefs?
Screening of healthcare workers for HIV.
Organ and tissue donors; ‘opting out’ or ‘opting in.’
Contraception and abortion services for patients under the age of 16; role of patients,
parents and doctors.
Prolonging life, quality of life, and ‘living wills.’
When does life begin, end?
Should all children be required by law to receive all recommended immunisations unless
there are specific medical contraindications?
Free NHS healthcare should be means tested; those who can afford to pay for private health
care should do so
Does the medical profession have a duty to become involved in tackling poverty and
unemployment?
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Decisions relating to how NHS funding is spent should be left to doctors
Doctors should be allowed to freely advertise their medical services
Developing countries and medicine; health issues created by cultural practices; such as
circumcision, cliterodectomy.
Medical ethics and alternative and complementary medicine.
The ethics involved in medical research on animals, people.
Relationships between practitioners and fellow professionals and patients in a medical
setting.
Competing rights in a medical environment.
Ethical codes of conduct.
Preparing your Essay Your essay topic should be chosen after consultation with your
supervisor. It is important to choose a topic that is viable within the word limits given
above, that can be completed by the due date, that can be supported by the resources
available, and for which adequate supervision is possible. While it is normal for topics to
evolve during the research and writing processes, no substantial change in the topic is
permitted without the knowledge and agreement of the supervisor.
Please note that it is not permitted to replicate an essay or presentation you have
submitted in the context of your participation in the related course Introduction to
Medical Ethics (ME33ME).
Before starting, consult the section on written work in the School of Divinty, History and
Philosophy’s Advice on Essay Writing. There is also a Good Writing Guide which has
additional useful information including details on the formatting of foot/endnotes and
bibliographies.
The programme of submission deadlines is detailed below and it is in your own interest to
adhere to this as strictly as possible.
Students are required to submit a working title before commencement and TWO pieces of
work related to the preparation of their essays. They will receive formative feedback on
these pieces of work from their supervisor. The work will not be marked, but will serve as a
basis for supervisory guidance and discussion of the essay process and progress. However,
if the supervisor decides the work is of an unsatisfactory nature, the student may be
required to re-submit a satisfactory version. Students are advised that your supervisor
will not read drafts of your essay in part or in its entirety. Your supervisor may give
specific guidance relating to sources and general argument. However, as the entire project
is an original piece of work, your supervisor cannot be expected to engage in detailed
analysis and criticism of specific aspects of the project prior to its submission.
Required Unassessed Work
1. Working Title. Having decided what your project is to be about, you should submit an
essay title for consideration as soon as possible after commencement of the course. There
are no strict guidelines but you should try, if possible, to make your title a positive
statement rather than ask a question. Brevity is usually best. Remember, your title must
reflect what you actually go on to write about. Since this is a working title it can be
modified before final submission but you must write about the agreed topic.
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2. The first piece of written work is a bibliography consisting of at least 12 sources
which must include primary material, monographs, journal articles, and essays from edited
volumes. The bibliographical entries must conform to departmental standards. The
bibliography can be sent to Dr Sutherland as an email attachment and is due by
5.00pm on Thursday of week 2 (8); i.e. 21 November 2013.
3. The second piece of written work will be an outline of the content and argument of
the essay. This will be between 250-350 words in length and will lay out the key themes of
your essay as well as giving some idea of the principal arguments. The outline can be sent
to Dr Sutherland as an email attachment and is due by Thursday of week 4 (10); i.e. 5
December 2013.
The completed essay is due by 5.00 on Thursday of week 6 (12) i.e. 19 December 2013.
All essays must be submitted to the medical school office (Morag Simpson) where the time
and date will be noted on the title page. TWO COPIES should be submitted– one with
ONLY your ID number on the title page (please delete any use of your name on the copy
with no name on the title page). The other copy should have your name AND ID number.
Always retain one copy for your records; if only one is submitted it cannot be returned. Do
not forget to insert page numbers.
All work must come with an Assessment Cover Sheet which can be found on-line. The
essays will be returned, together with comments and the mark awarded after the Christmas
break.
This Assessment Cover Sheet contains the following statement:
“I understand that plagiarism is the use, without adequate
acknowledgment, of the intellectual work of another person in work
submitted for assessment. A student cannot be found to have
committed plagiarism where it can be shown that the student has
taken all reasonable care to avoid representing the work of others as
his or her own. I have abided by these guidelines in the
preparation of this essay.”
This must be signed and dated.
All cases of suspected plagiarism will be reported to the University
Investigating Officer.
Marking. Essays are marked on the University’s Common Assessment Scale:
18-20
15-17
12-14
9-11
6-8
1-5
0
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Pass
Marginal Fail
Clear Fail
no submission
Delivery of presentations.
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A presentation on your chosen topic forms an integral, and assessed, part of your project. It
should deal with the same material and contain the same key themes and arguments as your
essay. It should last approximately 20 minutes with a further 10 minutes allowed for taking
questions from, and discussion with, fellow students. You may use any of the comments
received during this exchange to modify and improve the final draft of your essay.
Room ZB17 in the Zoology Building has been booked from 9.00am – 5.00pm on
Friday 13 December 2013 (week 5 (11) of teaching) so that all students have sufficient
time to deliver their presentations. You must deliver your presentation at this session. A
detailed timetable will be drawn up nearer that date following consultation with all students
on the course.
If you are encountering difficulties in meeting any of the deadlines, please do not wait until
the due submission date and then ask for an extension, but discuss your problems at the
earliest possible opportunity. Do not let a problem escalate into a crisis – remember that we
are here to help you.
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