MBE Course: Ethics in Mental Healthcare

Penn's Master of Bioethics (MBE) Program welcomes interested students and professionals to explore the MBE and learn about the field of bioethics by taking a course with us. Interested students and professionals can take up to three courses in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy without being admitted to the Masters Program. Find Fall 2020 course offerings here, and view Dr. Dominic Sisti's course on Ethics in Mental Healthcare below.

BIOE 590: Ethics in Mental Healthcare
Instructor: Dominic Sisti
Time: Tuesdays, 4:30 - 7:00 PM EST
Location: Online

Mental health care—which includes but is not limited to psychiatry, psychology, and clinical social work—is an especially ethically fraught subdiscipline of the larger medical enterprise. Ethical issues range from garden-variety problems related to informed consent, patient capacity, and clinical professionalism to novel issues related to involuntary treatment, research on mentally ill persons, the criminalization of mental illness, and controversies surrounding nosological changes. This course will present a survey of these ethical issues by first introducing foundational concepts and critiques from philosophy, history, critical race theory, and the sociology of psychiatry. Students will be expected to become conversant in several bioethical approaches and methods and be able to use them to critically examine both historical and contemporary ethical questions in mental health care and research.

Bioethics Certificate Program

Mentorship 

Each resident will have a primary mentor. Faculty Champion: Dominic Sisti | Resident Champions: Elaine Xu and Erika Sims | Additional mentorship referrals may be made based on the resident’s needs.

Didactics

Required attendance at 90% of the ethics didactics, with makeup sessions if missed. Reading as it pertains to research subject will be necessary and reviewed with mentor.

Experiential Learning

Research experience is required in the form of a researching a behavioral health care ethics topic or contributing to an ethics research project. Utilization of elective time for research experience is optional, though not required. Individual schedules will be discussed based on resident needs and interest as amount of time required will differ based on specific interests.

Scholarly Pursuit

Significant contribution to a publication on an ethics topic. Residents will lead one project, with mentorship, and will aim to submit a manuscript for publication by December of PGY-4 year. Present research at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Institute for Psychiatric Services, or another appropriate professional meeting. Optional: Presentation at brain forum or other didactic experience within the residency.

Psychiatry Residency Ethics Track

Coordinated with the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy and the ScattergoodEthics Program, the Ethics in Psychiatry Track provides interested residents with opportunities to engage in scholarly work in behavioral health care ethics. Specific topics may include the ethics of re-categorization of mental disorders, capacity and involuntary treatment, research involving mentally ill participants, confidentiality and the duty to warn and protect, and ethical issues related to correctional and forensic psychiatry. Trainees need not have a background in applied ethics or biomedical ethics.

Brief Description

Early in training, residents will meet with the track director, Dominic Sisti, PhD, to formulate a research and career prospectus. The research prospectus will briefly describe the intended primary research project. The career prospectus will outline potential ways to integrate medical ethics into the resident’s post-training career. During PGY2, a comprehensive reading list will be designed to provide ​the ​conceptual background needed to execute a research project. During PGY3 and PGY4, the trainee will spend elective time at the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy conducting their research project and engaging in the intellectual life of the department​ through participation in department seminars, works in progress meetings, and informal gatherings.​

Goals & Expectations

Residents will lead one project, with mentorship, and will aim to submit a ​manuscript for publication by December of PGY4. Trainees will​ also​ have the opportunity to ​present their work at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

Learn more here

Graduate Seminar: Ethics in Mental Health Care (BIOE-590)

Mental healthcare—which includes but is not limited to psychiatry, psychology, and clinical social work—is an especially ethically fraught subdiscipline of the larger medical enterprise. Issues range from garden-variety problems related to informed consent, patient capacity, and clinical professionalism to novel issues related to involuntary treatment, research on mentally ill persons, questions about free will and nosological categories. This course presents a survey of these ethical issues by first introducing foundational concepts from ethical theory and the philosophy of psychiatry. Students are expected to become conversant in several bioethical approaches and methods and be able to use them to critically examine both historical and contemporary questions in mental healthcare and research.

Institutes

The ScattergoodEthics Institute Series is the flagship community educational initiative of the ScattergoodEthics Program.  Led by faculty from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics & Department of Psychiatry, ScattergoodEthics Institutes offer topical and timely content on a variety of ethical issues related to behavioral healthcare practice and policy.  Continuing medical education and continuing educational units are available at all Institutes. Previous Institute topics include:

Dangerousness & Involuntary Treatment: An Applied Ethics Workshop, March 2014

What is Recovery? Ethical Challenges & Clinical Transformations, May 2012

Categories & Controversies: The Ethical Dimensions of the DSM-5, September 2011 

Cluster B Personality Disorders: Ethical Issues in Nosology, Diagnosis & Treatment, May 2011

Pennsylvania Hospital Psychiatric Ethics Didactic Series

Ethics didactic sessions are held monthly. Sessions have two parts: (1) one resident presents the facts and ethical dimensions of a recent case and (2) didactic content covers a specific ethical or philosophical issue in the recent bioethics literature. Residents should complete the assigned readings to ensure thoughtful and critical discussion. Often there will appear news items worthy of discussion. If so, these will be sent to residents via the PAH Inpatient Chief Resident in advance of meetings.