Postgraduate - UnitMCE5213 - Regulation and ethics in assisted reproductive technologies

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Offered	Clayton Second semester (extended) 2015 (Day) Clayton Second semester (extended) 2015 (Online)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Giuliana Fuscaldo and Dr Sally Catt

Synopsis

This unit examines the current legislation and regulations governing the clinical practice of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) and related research, nationally and internationally. It describes the role of ethical frameworks and principles in health decision-making and analyses regulation in ART with respect to underlying moral and ethical principles. An introduction to ethical problem solving is presented. The major ethical issues raised by assisted reproductive technologies are examined and critically evaluated.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Describe and discuss the current major legislative and non-legislative schemes for regulating IVF in Australia and have some knowledge of how the Australian situation compares with other countries
identify the relevant regulatory bodies and know their requirements for licensing, accrediting and approving clinical and ART related research
describe and explain the legal and ethical issues surrounding IVF, gamete and embryo donation, embryo experimentation, surrogacy, cloning, stem cell research and genetic selection and manipulation
describe the role of ethics in health care and legal decision-making and be familiar with the main ethical frameworks and principles used in analysing conflicts and solving problems
evaluate critically the ethical concerns raised by current ART practices and the future prospects for this technology in Australia and around the world
explain their social and ethical responsibilities as a health care professional and with regard to patient care.