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.

Course Guide

View this course’s outcomes, policies, schedule, and more.*

*The information contained in our Course Guides is provided as a sample. Specific course curriculum and requirements for each course are provided by individual instructors each semester. Students should not use Course Guides to find and complete assignments, class prerequisites, or order books.


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.

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.

Honor and Integrity in Science Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to equip you to apply course reading and theological ethics into the types of situations that healthcare leaders and administrators face over the course of their career. You have been assigned by your supervisor to develop a handbook for ethical research standards. Within your department you have a wide range of research areas involving both human and animal subjects. What values and issues should this handbook address? What steps can be taken to ensure ethical research is being conducted within the department by both faculty and students? You will write a 1,500 – 2,000 word essay, in APA format, with at least three peer-reviewed sources and one theological-ethical source. 

For the annotated bibliography, the student will include a clear summary of each research source in which the student summarizes the source. The student will include why this source was selected and commentary or evidence it provides to support his/her Philosophy of Ethics in Research Assignment. At least 10 sources are needed and must be from textbooks or peer reviewed research.

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.

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.


Top 1% For Online Programs

Have questions about this course or a program?

Speak to one of our admissions specialists.