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Medicine in Contemporary Society (MCS) Core Curriculum

Areas of Focus

Medical Humanities
It is through the humanities that health professionals are sensitized to the patient as a person coping with illness against the background of a healthcare system that can often be de-humanizing. It is through the writing of novels, short stories and poems that professionals and those coping with illness can express their insights and experiences. MCS gives students an opportunity to expand their knowledge of ethical, social, cultural, and humanistic issues in medicine in a manner reflective of their own career choices and particular interests. MCS focuses on mastery of knowledge and attitudes related especially to the following core competencies: professionalism and ethics, communication, self-awareness, social context of medical care, and health care systems.

Compassionate Care
The art of healing requires compassion and emotional intelligence on the part of clinicians, yet many patients and their families do not experience care in this basic sense. As the connection between healing and emotions becomes better understood scientifically, we need to renew a commitment to compassionate care that is grounded in leading edge research, scholarship, and educational efforts.

Bioethics
Bioethics is the systematic study of the moral dimensions – including moral vision, decisions, conduct, and policies – of the life sciences and health care, employing a variety of ethical methodologies in an interdisciplinary setting. From the beginning to the end of life, biotechnologies and healthcare raise every conceivable question about human dignity and the very future of human nature itself.

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Core Units Offered 
Date Topic Faculty Divisions
Date8/27 TopicMedicine as a Profession FacultyDr.  Michael Vetrano & Dr. Maria Basile DivisionsThe Illness Experience
Date9/3 TopicWhat is the Illness experience? FacultyDr. Michael Vetrano & Dr. Basile DivisionsThe Illness Experience
Date9/10 TopicHealth Disparity and the Social Determinants of Health FacultyDr. Phyllis Migdal DivisionsThe Illness Experience
Date9/17 TopicProfessional Identify Formation and the Beneficiaries of Compassionate Care FacultyDr. Stephen Post DivisionsThe Illness Experience
Date9/24 TopicRespecting Patient Autonomy FacultyDr. Vetrano DivisionsThe Illness Experience
Date10/15 TopicMalicious Medicine Faculty  DivisionsCompassionate Care
Date10/22 TopicPain/Ethics/Substance Abuse FacultyDr. Kevin Zacharoff DivisionsCompassionate Care
Date10/29 Topic

Facing Mortality

FacultyDr. Vetrano DivisionsCompassionate Care
Date11/05 TopicThe Ethics of Gender and Identity- caring for LGBTQ+Persons FacultyDr. Allison Eliscu DivisionsCompassionate Care
Date11/12 TopicDirectives and Decisions FacultyDr. Vetrano DivisionsBioethics: Ethical Standards in the Clinical Setting
Date12/3 TopicPersonal Conscience- Abortion and Medical Practice FacultyDr. April Castillo & Dr. Beth Garduno DivisionsBioethics: Ethical Standards in the Clinical Setting
Date12/17 TopicNarrative Medicine FacultyDr. John Coulehan & Dr. Basile DivisionsBioethics: Ethical Standards in the Clinical Setting
Date1/7 TopicProfessional Duties Faculty Dr. Basile & Arthur Diamond, JD DivisionsBioethics: Ethical Standards in the Clinical Setting
Date1/28 TopicStructural Racism and Health Care FacultyDr. Cordia Beverley DivisionsBioethics: Ethical Standards in the Clinical Setting
Date2/4 TopicMedical Finance FacultyDr. Wertheim DivisionsSocial Contexts of Care
Date2/25 TopicDementia and Society FacultyDr. Post DivisionsSocial Contexts of Care
Date3/18 TopicInterface of AI and Medical Practice FacultyDr. Rachel Wong  DivisionsSocial Contexts of Care

View MCS  Selectives