Georgetown University Medical Center

Education

Section: Education

Applied Bioethics

This practicum is offered annually to students in the graduate bioethics program. A series of clerkships affords students a unique opportunity to integrate their academic studies in bioethics as they work closely with clinical mentors examining ethical problems in the natural settings in which they arise.

For further information, please contact:

Carol R. Taylor, RN, PhD
Director, Center for Clinical Bioethics
Georgetown University
Box 571409
Washington, DC 20057-1409
Tel: 202/687-4783
FAX: 202/687-8955
E-mail Carol Taylor

Tutorials

Each faculty member of the Center for Clinical Bioethics offers medical ethics tutorials and research project guidance for graduate-level students and medical students at Georgetown. Recent subjects have included virtue ethics and do-not-resuscitate orders.

Please contact individual faculty members for further information.

Bioethics Colloquium

The Colloquium has been offered since 1979 for the faculty and clinical staff of the Medical Center, faculty and graduate students from the University, and other Washington-area health care professionals interested in exploring special topics in bioethics. One colloquium is held each semester. Recent topics have included the ethics of managed care, genetic enhancement, assisted reproduction, and definitions of death.

For information on currently scheduled colloquia, please consult the Conferences section of the website

Pastoral Care/Clergy Workshops

The Center for Clinical Bioethics and the Pastoral Care Department of Georgetown University Hospital co-sponsor the Annual Faith, Ethics and Healthcare Conference,a medical ethics workshop for clergy and pastoral caregivers.Recent topics have included medical choices and pastoral guidance, advanced directives, death and dying, ways of caring for the elderly, and genetics.

Continuing Education

The Georgetown University Medical Center plays a leading role in the Washington metro area in sponsoring education workshops and seminars. Center for Clinical Bioethics faculty regularly participate in these programs by addressing issues of ethical concern.

Ethics Curriculum in the Medical School

In 1998, Georgetown's Schools of Medicine and Nursing developed and implemented a four-part interdisciplinary curriculum in clinical ethics-- i.e., a longitudinal program drawing on the moral traditions and insights of nursing, medicine, philosophy, theology, pastoral care and ethics targeted at graduate nursing students and medical students. The conceptual framework of the curriculum is provided by the idea of moral agency, which consists of such elemental capacities as moral sensibility, responsiveness, reasoning, accountability, character, valuing and leadership. The ultimate objective of the curriculum is to foster the cultivation of these capacities.

Part One uses lectures, case-based small group discussions and Boalean theatre techniques to aid students in laying or fortifying the foundations of their own personal morality. The goals of Part One are to enhance the student's understanding of (1) him or herself as a moral agent, (2) the moral nature of medicine and nursing, and (3) the explanation and justification of moral choices and decisions. Part Two also uses lectures, case-based small group discussions and skill demonstrations to introduce students to the principal problems and dilemmas that physicians and nurses encounter in the care of patients. These areas include communication difficulties, truth telling, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent and refusal, reproductive decision making, end of life care and managed care.

In Part Three, students are challenged to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in Parts One and Two to the resolution of "real life" ethical problems encountered in the contexts of their clinical practica (for graduate nursing students) and clerkships (for medical students). Part Four is the only optional component of the curriculum; it provides interested students with the opportunity for independent, in-depth study of a particular issue or problem under the tutelage of Georgetown faculty in clinical ethics.

Course director:

Carol R. Taylor,RN, PhD
Director, Center for Clinical Bioethics
Georgetown University
Box 571409
Washington, DC 20057-1409
Tel: 202/687-4783
FAX: 202/687-8955
E-mail Carol Taylor

Healthcare Ethics - School of Nursing and Health Studies

This course explores the moral and social responsibility of healthcare managers. Through reading, reflection, and discussion of the purpose of healthcare and the role of management, students will examine standards of personal and organizational responsibility. They will be held to high standards of rigorous thinking and argumentation as they engage real world situations in anticipation of their management responsibilities to create sound moral cultures and strive for organizational integrity in a complex and evolving healthcare environment.

For further information contact:

Ann Neale, PhD
Center for Clinical Bioethics
Georgetown University
4000 Reservoir Road NW, Suite 234 Building D
Washington, DC 20007-2197
Tel: 202/687-8997
FAX: 202/687-8955
E-mail Ann Neale

Graduate Programs in Ethics

The Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the Department of Philosophy and the Graduate School of Georgetown University offer information on the graduate program in bioethics. Please contact them directly.

Philosophy Department
Kennedy Institute of Ethics