EMPIRICAL METHODS IN BIOETHICS
- M 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
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Instructor:
Joanne E Mantell
Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHICAL BIOETHICS
INTRO TO PHILOSOPHICAL BI
In contemporary bioethics, we find ourselves grappling with practically important, and at the same time, philosophically fundamental questions such as: When does someone’s life begin and how should it end? What is the proper role of physicians, nurses and other health care providers and what are the rights of their patients? What is a just and fair way to provide access to health-care services and resources? Which potential uses of new genetic and reproductive technologies would represent a legitimate advance in medicine and which would signify the beginning of a humanly degrading "brave new world"? Indeed, in a society committed to protecting a diversity of lifestyles and opinions, how can citizens resolve significant policy controversies such as whether there should be public funding of human embryonic stem cell research, or a legally protected right to physician assistance in ending one’s life?
The aims of this course are to identify the fundamental ethical questions that underlie contemporary biomedical practice; develop skill in analyzing and clarifying key concepts such as autonomy, justice, health and disease; critically assess the healthcare implications of different ethical outlooks; explore how citizens can reasonably address controversial bioethical issues in a mutually respectful and constructive way.
The course meets once a week for an hour and a half. Live-session interaction and post-session discussion forums play a key role as students explore, in a give-and-take spirit, the pros and cons of each position.
This course is designed for medical students, nursing students, and other healthcare professionals, as well as for students at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level in biology, philosophy, political science, public health, law, and related fields.
- R 12:10 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
- T 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
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Instructor:
Arthur Kuflik
Info - 3 points
LAW & BIOETHICS
This course introduces students to selected legal and policy texts that have addressed issues in bioethics and shaped their development. Students will explore and contrast legal reasoning and bioethical analysis, often of the same issues. By the end of the course, students will understand the legal or regulatory status of selected issues and have begun to independently navigate major legal, regulatory, and policy texts. Individual sessions will be focused around particular issues or questions that have been addressed by (usually) American courts and/or in legislation, regulation or policy, and that have been the subject of scholarship and debate within bioethics.
The course begins with a theoretical look at the relationship between law and ethics, and includes a brief introduction to legal decision-making and policy development. We then survey a range of bioethics issues that have been addressed by the courts and/or in legislation, regulation, or significant policy documents, contrasting and comparing legal argument and reasoning with arguments utilized in the bioethics literature.
- R 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
- W 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
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Instructor:
David N Hoffman
h-index: 2 Info -
Instructor:
Susan Regan
Info - 3 points
HOPE, MEANING AND ETHICS IN CLINICAL CAR
- M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
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Instructor:
Linda S Golding
Info - 3 points
CLINICAL ETHICS
While this course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of clinical ethics and the basic terminology and framework of ethical analysis in biomedical ethics, it offers a more sociological perspective, putting the contemporary clinical issues into a broader context. We will look briefly at the development of clinical ethics and its impact on hospital care and doctor-patient relationships, on the prevailing autonomy norm and its critique. The course then focuses on issues encountered in clinical practice such as informed consent, patient capacity, decision-making, end of life, advance directives, medical futility, pediatrics ethics, maternal-fetal conflicts, organ transplantation, cultural competence and diversity of beliefs and others. The course will examine the role of the clinical ethics consultant (CEC) and assignments will mimic the work that CECs may perform in the hospital setting.
Over the span of the semester, students become familiar with the ethical questions surrounding major topics in the clinic with a practical case-based approach toward ethics dilemmas and ethics consultation. During the semester, students in New York attend a meeting of the adult or pediatric ethics committees of New York Presbyterian and Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital or another area hospital, as well as ethics lectures given at the medical center.
Students are expected to complete five case write-ups using a template that will be given by the instructor. Students will be using these cases to refine and hone their ethical analysis skills and to show their knowledge of law, policy and ethical principles and how they might apply to each situation.
- T 3:45 p.m.-5:45 p.m.
- M 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
- W 8 p.m.-10 p.m.
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Instructor:
Barbra Rothschild
Info -
Instructor:
Cindy Geppert
Info - 3 points
ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE
ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS & C
This course will explore the influence of institutional policies on the ethical practices of clinicians, researchers, and healthcare administrators. We will examine the ways in which rules and practices related to operational and financial performance shape the ability of practitioners, advocates for patients/research participants, and the public to advance organizational goals. We will evaluate internal and external sources of institutional direction and values. The exercise of authority by different stakeholders produces a cumulative impact on organizational ethics and compliance. At the end of the course students will have a working knowledge of the various institutional influences that impact the sometimes-conflicting obligations of compliance with financial regulations and clinical performance improvement.
- W 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
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Instructor:
David N Hoffman
h-index: 2 Info - 3 points
RESEARCH ETHICS
In recent years, many crucial issues have arisen concerning research ethics. Scientists in biomedicine, social science and other areas, as well as policy makers face rapidly evolving challenges. In recent years, violations of research ethics have attracted attention from the public, the media, the government, and the scientific community, which have all responded in varying ways. Issues arise in deciding how best to protect human subjects, obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, finance research without biasing results, and avoid “misbehavior” among scientists. Questions arise concerning the professional responsibilities and rights of scientists, the rights of study participants, and the appropriate role of the state in these matters.
The course meets online once a week for an hour and a half, with extensive interaction between students and the professor both during class and on post-class discussion forums. It can fulfill the requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research that the NIH and other funders currently mandate for training programs that they support.
- R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- T 6 p.m.-7:45 p.m.
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Instructor:
Robert L Klitzman
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
Research Ethics
This course is offered for early year Biology PhD students only and meets the first 8 weeks of the semester.
In
recent years, many crucial issues have arisen concerning research ethics. Scientists in biomedicine, social science and other areas, as well as policy makers face rapidly evolving challenges. In recent years, violations of research ethics have attracted attention from the public, the media, the government, and the scientific community, which have all responded in varying ways. Issues arise in deciding how best to protect human subjects, obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, finance research without biasing results, and avoid “misbehavior” among scientists. Questions arise concerning the professional responsibilities and rights of scientists, the rights of study participants, and the appropriate role of the state in these matters.
The course meets in person and online for 2 hours, with extensive interaction between students and the professor both during class and on post-class discussion forums. It can fulfill the requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research that the NIH and other funders currently mandate for training programs that they support.
- R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Joel Roselin
Info - 2 points
Research Ethics
This course is offered for Biology PhD students only and meets the last 5 weeks of the semester.
In
recent years, many crucial issues have arisen concerning research ethics. Scientists in biomedicine, social science and other areas, as well as policy makers face rapidly evolving challenges. In recent years, violations of research ethics have attracted attention from the public, the media, the government, and the scientific community, which have all responded in varying ways. Issues arise in deciding how best to protect human subjects, obtain informed consent, protect privacy and confidentiality, finance research without biasing results, and avoid “misbehavior” among scientists. Questions arise concerning the professional responsibilities and rights of scientists, the rights of study participants, and the appropriate role of the state in these matters.
The course meets in person or online for 2 hours, with extensive interaction between students and the professor both during class and on post-class discussion forums. It can fulfill the requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research that the NIH and other funders currently mandate for training programs that they support.
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Instructor:
Joel Roselin
Info - 1 points
JOURNALISM & BIOETHICS
- M 3 p.m.-5 p.m.
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Instructor:
Harriet A Washington
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
AI AND ETHICS: IN THE CLINIC
This course examines the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence in healthcare, emphasizing translational ethics—the movement from identifying ethical concerns to proposing and defending justifiable, real-world solutions. Intended for clinicians, administrators, leaders, and researchers, the course explores how AI is impacting
patient care, clinical decision-making, health system operations, and clinical research. Students will engage with a broad spectrum of use cases, including AI in imaging specialties, predictive models for diagnoses and future health states, intraoperative support, large language models, mental health chatbots, and digital twins. Core themes include transparency, accuracy, impact, safety, governance, privacy, accountability, and the distribution of burdens and benefits. Seminar-style sessions are built around presentations, discussions, and interactive analysis, enabling participants to apply ethical frameworks to real clinical contexts. By course completion, students will be equipped to critically evaluate AI applications and contribute to strategies and policies that ensure safe, effective, and ethically
responsible deployment.
As part of a nascent but rapidly developing field, this course situates health AI ethics within the broader principles of patient-centered clinical ethics, equipping students to think critically about how emerging technologies intersect with core values of patient care. By engaging with both current applications and future concerns, the course helps learners bridge foundational ethical concepts with the novel challenges posed by AI solutions in diverse clinical settings—from imaging and predictive analytics to mental health support and operational tools. Within the program curriculum, the course complements broader training in Bioethics by focusing specifically on applied, translational ethics, ensuring students are prepared not only to identify ethical issues but also to propose and defend actionable solutions that can guide clinical practice, institutional policy, and system-level decision-making.
This course is offered as an elective within the program and is open to Bioethics students and students from other fields or Columbia University programs with permission. No specific competencies, prerequisite coursework, or prior knowledge in the discipline are required; students from diverse professional and academic backgrounds are welcome. The course is delivered fully online in a seminar format, fostering interac
- M 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
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Instructor:
Charles Binkley
Info - 3 points
MASTER THESIS WORKSHOP
TAKEN WITH BIET 5992 Master Thesis (2-credit).
The Workshop meets six times over four months. These sessions will assist students in starting to focus more fully on a topic and approach. During the Thesis Workshop, students will first speak informally for five minutes about a possible topic, followed by a more formal five-minute presentation and a draft of a one-page outline or abstract, proceeding to a more finalized outline or abstract. At each of these stages, students will receive feedback from the course director as well as fellow students.
- F 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
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Instructor:
Arthur Kuflik
Info - 1 points
MASTER THESIS (2 CREDIT)
Thesis requirement for Bioethics program. Taken with the Thesis Workshop (BIET K5991).
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Instructor:
Arthur Kuflik
Info - 2 points
Internship in Industry - BIET
Internship in BIET
This asynchronous, 3-credit elective provides an immersive, supervised professional internship experience paired with structured reflection and applied academic work. Students integrate theory with practice while assessing organizational culture, ethical decision-making, feedback practices, and professional competencies. Through guided analysis and reflective assignments, students deepen self-awareness, strengthen career readiness, and clarify how their internship experience shapes future professional goals.
- 3 points