BTHX 5120/8120 | Dying in Contemporary Medical Culture
Jan. 19 - May 3
Spring Semester Registration:
For Degree or Certificate Programs: Opens Tuesday, November 10
For Non-Degree and Visiting Students: Open Friday, December 4
Explore death and dying in U.S. culture through an ethical lens. This course examines current medical practices related to dying such as palliative care for adults and children, end-of-life communication and decision making, and physician aid in dying/euthanasia. Students will gain an understanding of - and practice critiquing - common practices and moral problems in contemporary dying culture. This course is suited for students from diverse disciplinary and professional backgrounds, including, but not limited to, those who work or will work in clinical spaces such as physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.
These courses welcome learners from various disciplinary backgrounds and are open to graduate students, professional degree students, and upper-level undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota and other institutions. They are also open to learners who are not currently in degree programs but wish to take courses, so long as they meet course prerequisites.
About the Instructor
Ian D. Wolfe, PhD, MA, RN, HEC-C, is Director of Ethics, Clinical Ethics Department, Children's Minnesota; Community Instructor Faculty, Department of Pediatrics, U of MN Medical School; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Pediatric Ethics. He earned his PhD in Nursing with a focus in bioethics, and his MA in Bioethics with a minor in Public Health and focus on health equity, from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wolfe has a clinical background in burn, trauma and pediatric critical care nursing. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric bioethics at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Dr. Wolfe has authored a broad range of journal articles that support his main interest which is how social, political and cultural systems issues affect clinical ethics and care at the bedside.
Dr. Wolfe has chaired and participated in other volunteer activities with state and national nursing and medical organizations such as the American Nurses Association, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and Society for Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Wolfe’s current areas of research focus on pediatric clinical ethics including parent-clinician interactions and decision-making, professional ethical obligations, and fetal health ethics.