Course Description: Case studies have played a large role in bioethics, bioethics education, and ethics consultation. But many questions arise about how case studies should be formulated, used, and analyzed. How can we formulate cases, based on lived experience, that respect confidentiality and privacy? How thick or thin should the descriptions be? How can cases convey the background practices and contextual features that are so important for ethical understanding and judgment? How are cases related to debates about principlism, contextualism, and particularism? Can case studies be used to explore ethical issues about the health care systems? What are the advantages and limits of focusing on cases?

During the fall semester, we will address these questions. Each session of this course will include a discussion of a particular case study (from written sources or the participants’ experience). Each session will also include discussion of some of the more general questions that I formulated. By focusing on case studies, the course will help the participants to explore concrete ethical issues and develop ethical skills. The course will also help participants to formulate, develop, and analyze their own cases studies.

Target Audience: Ethics consultants, attending physicians, medical school faculty, and medical students.