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Department of Health Care Ethics

Health Care Ethics is an integral component of an education within the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions. The Department of Health Care Ethics and the Center for Ethics and Leadership in the Health Professions are dedicated to a three-fold mission of education, research and service in health care ethics and health policy. The Department's efforts are informed by two primary values that are at the heart of the mission of RHCHP and its Jesuit heritage:

The Center for Ethics and Leadership in the Health Professions extends the mission by providing services to professionals from the Rocky Mountain region’s health care community and by contributing to the larger national and international dialogue on health care through scholarship and professional activities. Members of the Department faculty and Scholars of the Center are knowledgeable in clinical and organizational ethics, as well as health care public policy, with special attention to the Catholic moral and social justice traditions.

The truly important ethical issues in today's health care are as likely to arise in the boardroom as the clinic. Professionals in the health care industry are faced with a range of complex issues and ethical dilemmas related to specific clinical situations, the conduct of health care organizations, and the demands of a professional role. The Department's two primary values guide the education that faculty provide in preparing students for the ethical challenges they will face. Students are thereby encouraged to develop an informed understanding of their own moral foundations in an atmosphere of mutual support and encouragement, honoring the Regis University commitment to the question "How ought I to live?"

For example, courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels present a variety of classical and contemporary ethical perspectives along with models for ethical decision-making. Students explore a wide range of contemporary issues in bioethics, including those occurring at the beginning and end of life, dilemmas in everyday practice, and the many questions surrounding emerging healthcare technologies. They also consider ethical dilemmas that organizations often face including conflict of interest and public accountability.

Finally, students consider many of the challenges inherent in the health care policy arena including issues of social justice and the realities of limited health care resources. Students develop an enhanced sensitivity to the role of social, cultural, and faith-based influences in the delivery of health care.


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