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Principles & Philosophy 5: Professional Ethics - 24760


 

 
John B. Wolfe, Jr., DC, JD
651-690-2990
email: jwolfejr@mcleodusa.net
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Presentation of key ethical issues encountered in the professional setting.  Emphasis is on those issues commonly occurring in the chiropractic patient care environment.

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The Institution-wide learning goals define the common ground that unites the programs within the university. They are purposefully broad so that the various colleges and schools can continue to develop their unique identities through varying ways in which the goals are met.

  1. Effective Communication
    Graduates will demonstrate effective verbal, non-verbal, and written communication skills in a wide variety of contexts, including collaborative activities.
  2. Self Directed and Lifelong Learning
    Graduates will be aware of the limits of one’s personal knowledge and experience and have an intellectual interest in scholarly and creative endeavors. Graduates will actively set appropriate learning goals, pursue them, and apply the knowledge gained.
  3. Ethical Reasoning
    Graduates will demonstrate a willingness to recognize the values of others while maintaining one’s own integrity, and act ethically and professionally in all endeavors.
  4. Individuals, Communities and Cultures
    Graduates will demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to the cultural and health practices of individuals and communities. Graduates will be able to identify appropriate health related resources.
  5. Service to the Community
    Graduates will understand and value the benefits of service to the community.
  6. Influence of Mind, Body and Spirit on Health
    Graduates will recognize the inter-relationship of the mind, body and spirit and the influence of extrinsic factors on an individual’s health.
  7. Critical Thought and Knowledge Acquisition
    Graduates will acquire, appraise and apply scientific information. Graduates will contextually organize and synthesize relevant information to address an issue or problem.
  8. Competence in one's Discipline
    Graduates will demonstrate competence of appropriate depth and scope for one's discipline.

Course Objectives
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Materials
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A. Required Text(s):
None
B. Recommended Text(s):
None
C. Required Materials for Lab:
N/A
Assignments
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All students are expected to have read all assigned materials.  Students will be called on, at random, to recite from or comment on assigned material. Any student who is unprepared on three or more occasions during the term will receive one full letter grade less than the grade obtained on the final exam.
Attendance
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All students are expected at all class sessions.
Grading Criteria
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Guaranteed grades are as follows:

A = --
B = --
C = --
D = --
F = --
Course Competencies
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COGNITIVE DOMAIN


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Conditions:
N/A

PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN


N/A

AFFECTIVE DOMAIN


N/A
Weekly Calendar of Learning Objectives
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Week Dates Topics/Learning objectives
Week 1 -- Regulation of Chiropractic Practice
Cognitive and Affective Competencies: Students will distinguish between the various governmental and professional entities which regulate or influence chiropractic practice, explain the extent and derivation of each entity's authority and the interest each such entity attempts to advance through its activities; and describe the procedure necessary to cause such an entity to modify its position. J. Wolfe
Reading:  None
Week 2 -- Attributes Which Distinguish a Profession from a Trade
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  Volunteer or selected students will describe attributes which they believe distinguish a profession from a trade. All students will discover that these attributes have been long recognized in the healthcare sociology literature, and will evaluate the status of the contemporary chiropractic profession against these attributes.  Students will explain the extent of shift in the degree of regulation from without which has occurred in the past 30 years, and be able to describe two or more mechanisms for favorably altering this trend. J. Wolfe
Reading:  None    
Week 3 --

Competence, Consent and Scope of Service
Beginning with this discussion, the remainder of the course will be devoted to study of the American Chiropractic Association Code of Ethics and the application of the Code to situations encountered in chiropractic practice.  As with all subsequent class meetings, the topic or topics will be introduced and explained, the rules which address the topic or topics will be identified, and the importance of the reasons for the existence of the rules will be explored.  Whenever possible,  hypotheticals or examples will  be used to illustrate the application of the pertinent rule or rules.
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  Students will be able to distinguish the aspirational goals of an ethical code from the minimal competencies which regulatory agencies impose, and describe factors which each might consider in defining competency.
Students will be able to explain the principle of patient autonomy, and be able to distinguish the ethical obligation to obtain consent from the legal requirement to do so; and to explain the legal consequences of failing to do so.
Students will be able to distinguish the ethical and practice management considerations in circumscribing the scope of service in a patient relationship from the legal and regulatory constraints on chiropractic scope of practice. J. Wolfe
Reading:  ACA Code of Ethics, Rules A(1)-C(4)
Week 4 --

Consultation with other Providers
Cognitive and Affective Competencies: Students will be able to explain the two circumstances in which the Code requires that a consultation be obtained or a referral made; will be able to distinguish the ethical and practice management conserations from the legal requirements and consequences in consultation and referral. Students will develop a protocol for obtaining consultations and making referrals which recognizes all of these considerations. J. Wolfe
Week 5 -- A Chiropractor is Not a Bus:  Selectivity, Withdrawal, Neglect and Abandonment
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  Students will appreciate their ability to be selective in taking new patients, and ways to recognize and avoid "red flag" type patients. Students will also recognize when a doctor should withdraw from a case, and will be able to describe a protocol for doing so which avoids legal, ethical and practice management pitfalls. J Wolfe
Week 6 -- Guest Lecture
A representative of National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company
Week 7 --

Advertising
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  After reviewing a sample print advertisement, students will identify ethical and legal deficiencies in the sample, and be able to recognize and avoid such deficiencies in their own advertising. .J. Wolfe
Week 8 -- Conflicts of Interest
Cognitive and Affective Competencies: After discussing several examples of inequality of bargaining power inherent in professional relationships (as compared with commercial relationships), students will be able to describe the potential for exploitation of the trust and dependence of patients, and will be able to describe strategies to avoid both conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts. J. Wolfe
Week 9 -- Conflicts of Interest, continued
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  Students will be able to describe how and why many examples of conflicts identified by medical ethicists in medical practice do not readily apply to chiropractic practice, and will be able to discern which conflicts can only be minimized rather than avoided altogether. J. Wolfe
Week 10 -- Observance of Laws and Rules
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  After comparing certain ethical rules to certain Minnesota statutes and rules, students will be able to distinguish between the aspirational goals of the Code and public protection interest of government. J. Wolfe
Reading: Minn. Stat. 148.01 et seq.; Minn. Rules 2500.0100 et seq.
Week 11 -- Confidentiality
Cognitive and Affective Competencies: Students will be able to explain the historical and practical bases for the existence of confidentiality requirements in chiropractic and the other healing professions; and will be able to explain how to avoid the common practice situations in which breaches occur. J. Wolfe
Week 12 --
Week 13 -- The Appearance of Impropriety; Ratting on your Friends
Cognitive and Affective Competencies:  Students will be able to explain the concept of appearance of impropriety and recognize its wide-ranging impact. Students will recognize the situations which require reporting of other providers and self-reporting. J. Wolfe
Week 14 -- FINAL EXAMS AS SCHEDULED
Week 15 -- FINAL EXAMS AS SCHEDULED
Please Note
This schedule of lecture and lab topics and quizzes and exams may be changed during the course of the trimester as circumstances require. Whenever possible, such changes will be announced in class before the date and time in question. You are responsible for anything that transpires during lectures and labs, even when you are unable to attend. In the event that you miss a class session, make sure you check with a classmate about any announcements or schedule changes which may have been made. Makeup exams are allowed only according to the policies described in the current student handbook, which is available in the Student Affairs office.
Maintained by Northwestern College of Chiropractic
Last updated: 27 April, 2006
 

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