Overview
Health policy has a profound impact on different aspects of our lives, such as our well-being, finances, life goals, and how we relate to ourselves and others. What makes health policies desirable? And how should we decide which health policy to adopt? This course approaches these questions from an ethical perspective and aims to develop your ability to identify morally relevant factors and make ethical judgements on healthcare issues.
This course begins with an introduction to various ethical theories applied to various health care issues. It delves into in-depth discussions of topics such as drug legalization, euthanasia, and abortion. Throughout the term, there will be plenty of case study discussions, enabling you to apply your knowledge and thinking skills to analyze problems.
Some of the topics discussed in this course may be emotionally challenging (e.g. addiction, suicide, and mental illness). Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. Do not hesitate to seek support if you need it. There are plenty of resources available (e.g. https://students.ubc.ca/health).
Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:
(1) explain, compare, and apply various ethical theories to analyze and evaluate health care issues;
(2) present arguments, raise objections, and reply to objections in a clear and logical manner;
(3) make ethical judgements based on relevant and reliable information, realistic understanding of the situation, and sound reasoning;
(4) explain the relevance of ethics to healthcare policy in terms of the topics covered in this course.