Has Anyone Taken Biomedical Ethics?

by x_factor
  1,307 Views   7 Comments

  1. Has anyone here taken, or is taking, Biomedical Ethics (generally a philosophy class) during their pre-reqs? What is/was your overall impression of the class, and what sort of things were covered?

    Biomedical Ethics is one option for my last remaining humanities class in the spring. Right now I have US History I scheduled. The teacher I have scheduled for history is known for being very easy and has great ratings, though for Biomedical Ethics the teacher also has great ratings, but within the reviews on RMP, I'm seeing a lot of "lots of research papers written..." type of responses.

    I have no interest in US History in general, but do have an interest in the topics that would likely be discussed in Biomedical Ethics. However, it falls under an elective and my load next semester is already very full (more sciences and math and another semester of psych, oh my!), so I don't want to pick out an elective that will end up being the most difficult class in my schedule.
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  2. 7 Comments

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  3. by Saysfaa
    Dec 18, '12
    I did. The prof teaches a class on the ethics of death on alternate years, so we didn't cover that. We covered the basic schools of philosophical thought (Kant, Mills, Locke). We covered some general principals such as what does (implied and explicit) consent mean and how does it apply in a medical setting. We probably spent the most time on who get to make decisions and why. We covered some specific topics like abortion, religious exemptions, organ transplant (limited supply so who decides where they go and why). Also, quite a lot on research.

    We wrote one research paper.

    I enjoyed the subject, not so much the teacher.
  4. by x_factor
    Dec 19, '12
    Thank you Saysfaa, I do believe it's a subject I would enjoy as well, definitely much more than typical US History. Thanks for your feedback!
  5. by nguyency77
    Dec 20, '12
    I took that class a while ago. It was philosophy. We only had to write one paper, and tests were over the reading. There were short answers like "What did author ________ say about abortion?" The rest of our class time was spent discussing the nightly readings. Hope that helps!
  6. by x_factor
    Dec 20, '12
    Thanks for the reply! I've talked to a couple others who also said this particular class at my school consisted of a lot of discussion, and that a lot of the grade was based on getting involved in the discussions. Definitely sounds like a class I am very interested in. At the moment it's currently filled up, so I'm just waiting for a time slot to open up.
  7. by nguyency77
    Dec 22, '12
    The teacher I had for that class doesn't seem to be teaching it anymore. Hm... I wonder if we're in the same geographical area! Where I am, that class is always full because everyone in the health programs needs it. EMT, nursing, RT... Even pharmacy techs need it I think!
  8. by x_factor
    Dec 22, '12
    Yeah, it's full here too, so I dug around to see what program actually requires it, and it's required by the Sonography and EMT majors, but not the nursing students at my school. It's also got a low slot number, only 2 sections with 28 seats available in each section. That is really low for my school, most sections average between 50 and 60 seats.

    The reviews for the teacher that's teaching it has really good reviews, says he's not overly difficult, but really likes students that get involved in discussions and that's where he throws out bonus points and does a lot of grading. Sounds like an interesting class. I figure since I'm going into nursing, taking a class that talks about medical related hot-topics wouldn't be a bad idea. Sounds more interesting than US history, lol.
  9. by chorkle
    Dec 22, '12
    x_f--

    My impression, from readings on AN, is that the transmission of Biomedical Ethics varies all over the lot.

    It was a prereq, where I was doing prereqs, so I took it. Doesn't seem to be a prereq where NS starts next month.

    Where, and when, I took the course, it seemed the assigned instructor might vary from one year to the next (just my impression). Took the course in (what some schools call) intermester--4-hour class, 4 afternoons a week, for 3 weeks. Intense, heavy course participation. Participation seemed to be the key--jump in, grab hold of the subject, be involved & outgoing--i.e., ALL of your conscious attn. & knowledge, up & out on the surface. (For me, this would be a great leap; I was excited about the course, I did it.)

    One assigned reading, by individual choice--several hundred pages--& what could be called a book report--EXCEPT that if you excelled, you were absolutely fully engaged in that book, and conveyed this effortlessly to the class, in great, organized, depth.

    Wonderful course.

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