HSCI 705 Ethical Issues in Health Sciences

This course has been designed to study the ethical underpinnings for the proper conduct of research involving human participants including a brief historical review of ethics in science, laws, and regulations that address human subjects’ research.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Ethical Issues in Health Sciences is designed to guide the student in the development of a wide-ranging overview and advanced understanding of research ethics with human subjects. Throughout the course, the student will seek to understand the ethical dimensions in scientific inquiry. The student will discuss the application and integration of ethical principles in human subjects’ research ranging from ethics in experimental design, participant recruitment to authorship/publication to conflicts of interest, and emerging societal issues with new technology and scientific advances.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussion Thread: Alternate Perspectives Around Ethical Challenges in Research

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will post a discussion thread of at least 800 words. They will also submit their initial thread in the form of a Word document that includes a reference page with references in APA format. Students must use a minimum of three peer reviewed sources and one theological source in your initial thread. After the initial submission, students will post two replies of at least 500 words. One of these replies must argue an opposing viewpoint to that of the initial discussion thread post. Each reply must use a minimum of two peer reviewed sources and one theological source (CLO: D). 

Video Discussion: Mission, Vision, and Values

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will complete 1 Video Discussion in this course. The student will post one 3-5 minute video. The student must then post 2 written replies of at least 75 words. For each thread, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 2 scholarly citations in APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least 2 scholarly citations in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, and peer reviewed research (CLO: B, E).

Avoiding Misconduct in Science Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to equip students to to apply course reading as well as theological ethics into the types of situations that healthcare researchers and administrators face over the course of their career (CLO: A, B, C). 

Case Study Assignments (4)

The purpose of these case studies is to equip you to apply course reading and theological ethics to ethical issues in science and research. The case studies provide you the opportunity to demonstrate your analysis of a situation and convey that material to others—fundamental skills for researchers and academicians. For each case study assignment, you will write a 1,000 – 1,500-word essay responding to a case study from your reading in the Shamoo and Resnik text. The student’s responses should include three peer-reviewed sources and one theological-ethical source. The reflections should adhere to current APA format (CLO: A, B, C, D). 

The student will complete one 12—15-page (typed, double-spaced APA format with at least 5 biblical verses and 10 sources [peer reviewed research and textbooks]) “Personal Philosophy of Ethics in Research” paper. The student will express with confidence his/her own sense of identity and values related to his/her views on ethics in research which are thoughtfully expressed and defended, and establishment of a foundation of belief that will allow for future actions “that are honest, courageous, and consistent with [his/her] beliefs.” The student will cite specific ethical dilemmas that have been discussed in the course readings and discussion activities and how his/her mission statement will guide him/her through the scenarios (CLO: A, B, C, D, E). 

Quiz: IRB Approval & Ethical Requirements for Research

This quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned module. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 5 multiple-choice and true/false questions and have a 3 hour time limit. (CLO: A).