I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Ethics and Issues

2. Course Prefix & Number:
MEDA 1130

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 1

Lecture Hours: 1

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course will cover legal and ethical issues as they relate to the medical field. The importance of legal knowledge to medical office personnel, standard of care, HIPPA, negligence, malpractice, and informed consent represent some of the topics that will be discussed.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

Name of Program(s)	Program Type
Medical Assistant Program	Diploma

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Research a bioethical issue and compose a research paper
Apply ethical principles in decision-making	Analyze and determine when they need to put their personal feelings aside when faced with an ethical issue involving patients through group discussion

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

Expected Outcome	MnTC Goal Area
Identify and respond to issues of patient confidentiality.
Maintain a professional attitude at all times.
Demonstrate knowledge of ethical boundaries.
Demonstrate knowledge of federal and state regulations.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

I.  Ethical Considerations

    A. What is Ethics?

    B.  Bioethics

    C.  Ethical Guidelines for Health Care Providers

    D.  Bioethical Dilemmas

II.  Legal Considerations

     A.  Sources Of Law
     B.  Administrative Law
     C.  Contract Law
     D.  Tort Law
     E.  Informed Consent
     F.  Risk Management
     G.  Civil Litigation Process
      I.  Public Duties

      J.  Advance Directives

III.  The Therapeutic Approach to the Patient with Life-Threatening Illness

      A.   Life-Threatening Illness
      B.   Choices in Life-Threatening Illness
      C.   The Range of Psychological Suffering
      D.   The Therapeutic Response to Patients with HIV/AIDS
      E.   The Therapeutic Response to Patients with Cancer
      F.   The Therapeutic Response to Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease
      G.   The Stages of Grief
      H.   Challenges for the Medical Assistant

IV.  Therapeutic Communication Skills

    A.  Importance of Communication
    B.  The Communication Cycle
    C.  Types of Communication
    D.  Factors Affecting Therapeutic Communication
    F.  Establishing Multicultural Communication
    G.  Therapeutic Communication in Action
    H.  Community Resources

V.  Coping Skills for the Medical Assistant

    A.  What is Stress?

    B.  Management of Stress

    C.  What Is Burnout?

    D.  Goal Setting as a Stress Reliever