The growth of scientific knowledge and technical ability in medicine,
genetics and the biological sciences has led to a number of ethical dilemmas
which perplex all of us, but especially those in the health care field. Does
the fact that we can prolong the life of a patient in a permanent
vegetative state mean that we should do so? Is destructive embryo
experimentation justified by the prospect it offers of alleviating infertility?
Should research designed to find `gay genes' be conducted given that the
results of such work might be used against homosexual people? Should we proceed
with research trying to clone people? These and many other questions raise
complex ethical and legal issues. The study, discussion and teaching of these
issues has come to be known as bioethics - a field generally defined as
covering the ethical issues raised by medicine, genetics and the biomedical
sciences.
The Centre for Human Bioethics offers PhD and masters by research degrees.
Master of Bioethics students who have completed at least one semester of the
course are eligible to apply for an annual fellowship of $7000 to work during
the Australian summer as an intern in the human genetics program at the World
Health Organisation in Geneva. For more information, contact Dr Justin Oakley.
Academic
strengths within the centre include ethical issues in patient care, especially
involving autonomy and confidentiality; the ethics of clinical trials; ethical
problems of resource allocation; medical end-of-life decisions; new
reproductive technologies; nursing ethics; surrogacy; disability and
discrimination; the new genetics and ethics; moral psychology and moral
development. The centre is also strong in ethical theory, especially virtue
ethics and consequentialism, the relevance of emotions to ethics, partiality
and impartiality in ethics, and feminist ethics. Applied ethics and moral
philosophy has been identified as one of the research strengths of the
faculty.
Refer to the research masters degrees and Doctor of Philosophy entries earlier
in this section for further information. Information is also available at the
centre's website at http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/bioethics.
Inquiries or applications for the Master of Bioethics by research should be directed, in the first instance, to the Centre for Human Bioethics, telephone +61 3 9905 4277.
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