This is a survey course. You will learn "the basics" - vocabulary, concepts, and the theories associated with Ethics and Biomedical Ethics and you will have the opportunity to discuss many topics with other students and with me. Finally, you will be encouraged to learn a bit about how to DO Philosophy.

To provide an idea of what we shall be covering, here is a listing of the modules in this course.

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Ethical Traditions

Chapter 3 The Moral Climate of Health Care

Chapter 4 Professionalism, Elitism and Health Care

Chapter 5 Ethics and Nursing

Chapter 6 Patient's rights, truth and Consent

Chapter 7 Human Experimentation

Chapter 8 Abortion

Chapter 9 Severely Impaired Newborns, Futility and Infanticide

Chapter 10 Care of the Dying

Chapter 11 Deliberate Termination of Life and Physician Assisted Suicide

Chapter 12 Genetics: Intervention, Control and Research

Chapter 13 Reproduction: Assistance and Control issues

Chapter 14 Ethnicity, Race and Gender issues

Chapter 15 HIV and AIDS: Related Issues

Chapter 16 The Allocation of Resources: Scarcity and Triage

Chapter 17 A Claim of a Right to Health Care

After the first few modules we will start applying the basic principles. With each topic or issue we cover, you will be expected to apply ethical principles and reasoning to ethical problems or dilemmas related to or constituting those issues. Do NOT expect to understand those principles when you first read about them . The meaning of those principles and concepts will become clearer as the course proceeds.

This point or lesson is really quite simple. If you needed someone to bake a cake for you or repair the carburetor on your automobile, which of the following people would you ask?

a. someone who said : "I heard a lecture on how to do that once."

b. someone who said: " I saw that done once on a tv show and I recorded it on my vcr."

c. someone who said: " I have done that before successfully and I understand how to do it ."

I don't know your answer but I would choose person (c). And so to learn about Philosophy I shall ask you to attempt it yourselves. It could be a lot of un. Lots of people I know really like to get into debates and into questions. Not too many like to give reasons for their positions but that is what Philosophy is about. So you will be expected to learn how to take a position on some issue in BIOMEDICAL ETHICS and to support your position using ethical principles and reasoning.

The course is also, however, whatever you make it. As you complete the module assignments you will have many opportunities to make decisions which will influence the nature and scope of your learning activities. The more energy you put into the course, the more benefit you will derive from it.

1. How interested are you in learning about ethics and medical ethics? _____

2. How important is it for you to learn this material? _____

3. Based on past experience, how well do you expect to do in the course? _____

Add the three scores together.  Then see below

If your total is 15 - 19, you will probably do OK.

If you scored 20 - 25, you are likely to do better than average.

If you scored 26 or above, I expect you will do exceptionally well in this course.

If you scored 0 - 15, that doesn't mean you are doomed!

But ask yourself "Why am I taking this course?", and if you can't come up with a pretty good answer, you may find yourself putting in too little effort to achieve well.

(Rating scale thanks to William Pelz)

College Course Syllabus Statements

Attendance on Religious Observance

As provided for in New York State Education Law §224-a, student absences from class necessitated by religious observance will be deemed an excused absence, with no academic consequences. Students must notify their professor in advance of their religious observance, via their College email accounts or otherwise in writing, of their intention to be absent from a particular class due to a religious observance; notification should occur at least one week prior to the religious observance. Observing students shall be granted reasonable arrangements and/or be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up missed quizzes, tests, assignments, and activities covered in their absence. Please refer to the College’s Religious Observance Policy, which is available on the Office of Legal Affairs’ website, for additional information.

Services for Students with Disabilities

Suffolk County Community College provides reasonable accommodations to registered students with disabilities who have self-identified and been approved by the Office of Disability Services. Once approved for reasonable accommodations, such students will be provided with a laminated letter, describing the specific accommodations. Students must present this laminated letter to each of their professors before accommodations can be provided.

Students who have, or think they may have, a disability are invited to contact Disability Services for a confidential consultation. 

Disability Services Contact Information:

Ammerman Campus

Call the Disability Services Office at 631-451-4045, email the Office at disabilityserv-ammr@sunysuffolk.edu or stop by to make an appointment at Room 202 in the Ammerman Building.

Eastern Campus

Call the Disability Services Office at 631-548-2527, email the Office at disabilityserv-east@sunysuffolk.edu or stop by to make an appointment at the Student Success Center in the Peconic Building, Room 122.

Michael J. Grant Campus

Call the Disability Services Office at 631-851-6355, email the office at disabilityserv-west@sunysuffolk.edu or stop by to make an appointment in Caumsett Hall, Lower Level 20.

Academic Integrity

Suffolk County Community College provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by submitting coursework that is uniquely theirs and giving proper attribution to the work of others. Participating honestly in the SCCC academic community ensures that students can take pride in their education and their contributions to scholarship. Without academic integrity, students gain unfair advantage over others and prevent their own intellectual progress. As a student in this class, you are expected to uphold the SCCC core value of Integrity and understand the Special Procedures for Academic Dishonesty in the relevant sections of the SCCC Student Code of Conduct.

The Code prohibits academic misconduct, which includes any action that results in students giving or receiving unauthorized assistance in an academic exercise, or receiving credit for work that is not their own. Academic exercise includes all forms of work submitted for credit. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following behaviors: cheating on exams; plagiarizing - using another person’s work or ideas without crediting them; complicity - helping a student, or being helped, to engage in academic misconduct; multiple submissions - submitting the same work for credit in more than one course without the instructor’s permission; falsification and forgery - inventing information or falsifying the identity of a student.

Information about the Student Code of Conduct, plagiarism and the citation process is in the Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Guide.

Diversity Syllabus Statement

In alignment with our institutional mission and strong support of diversity, equity and inclusion, Suffolk County Community College reaffirms its commitment to providing access to higher education and a welcome environment to all students. No matter your age, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, family status, U.S. citizenship status, religion, socio-economic status, political ideology, military-connected status, or intellectual or physical ability - you belong here. Therefore, in this class, we will maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect, civil discourse and cross-cultural communication.

The college prohibits discrimination and harassment and you can read more at: www.sunysuffolk.edu/nondiscrimination