Healthcare Ethics, Gisela Reyes

"Many of my students are preparing for careers in medicine or other healthcare professions, and I want them to leave my classroom with the understanding that practicing medicine is not merely about mastering math, chemistry, and biology. Medicine is a science directed toward humans and their most profound challenges. To be a physician or a healthcare provider requires more than exam success and lab proficiency; it requires the capacity to listen, to respond with care, and to approach patients with humility and compassion."

"Kalanithi's memoir serves a special role in the course: as a neurosurgeon, he carries an epistemic authority that resonates with students in the pre-health track. By their own measures of success, he is the kind of physician they aspire to become. When he underscores that morality and empathy are central to the everyday practice of medicine, students are often more receptive to his message than when it comes from me as their philosophy instructor."

"This course on healthcare ethics came to be as an amalgamation of my experiences both as a graduate teaching assistant at Northwestern University and as an instructor at Loyola University of Chicago. Each iteration of the course, whether as a TA or an instructor, allowed me to reflect and adapt to better meet the needs of my students, especially those preparing for careers in healthcare, public health, or related fields."

Healthcare ethics education integrates experiential teaching and iterative adaptation to meet the needs of pre-health students. The curriculum emphasizes that clinical practice requires empathy, humility, listening, and compassionate response beyond scientific mastery. A clinician's narrative is used early to provide epistemic resonance with aspiring physicians, making moral and empathetic commitments more persuasive. The syllabus is organized into two parts: physician–patient relationship topics (paternalism, informed consent, confidentiality, multicultural challenges) and biotechnology topics (physician-assisted suicide, assisted reproduction, genetic enhancement, the role of artificial intelligence). Teaching adapts to prepare students for ethical complexities in clinical practice.

Read at Apaonline