We aim to educate the next generation of mental healthcare practitioners in ethics.
The ethical challenges inherent in delivering mental healthcare continue to increase in number and complexity. The ScattergoodEthics Program helps to prepare practitioners-in-training for ethical challenges they might face in their clinical practices or research. We offer courses in the Penn Master of Bioethics Program and supervise residents and post-doctoral fellows who are pursuing advanced training and scholarly research.
Coursework
The University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Bioethics (MBE) is an interdisciplinary degree housed in the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy. The program introduces students to the full landscape of contemporary bioethics — from clinical decision-making and research ethics to health policy and emerging technologies. Ethics in Mental Healthcare (BIOE 5900) is one of several courses in the program addressing issues in behavioral healthcare ethics and policy.
Bioethics Certificate Program (for Psychiatry Residents)
The Bioethics Certificate Program offers residents the opportunity to pursue scholarly work in behavioral health care ethics. Areas of inquiry include the psychiatric nosology, decision-making capacity and involuntary treatment, psychiatric euthanasia, psychedelics, the duty to warn and protect, and ethical issues in correctional and forensic psychiatry. No prior background in applied or biomedical ethics is required.
Online Education
Tarasoff Duties
This course offers an overview of the legal and ethical issues pertaining to a therapist’s duty to warn and protect in cases where a patient may commit violence. It begins with a discussion of the 1968 case of Tatiana Tarasoff, which established legal precedent for a duty to warn. Then, using illustrative examples and interview material, it surveys how different states implement the duty to warn and protect, provides a framework for determining when and how to intervene with a potentially violent patient, and offers ethical guidance for balancing confidentiality with the safety of patients’ potential victims.
Research with Vulnerable Populations
This learning activity provides an overview of ethical and regulatory principles of research with participants perceived as vulnerable. Learners will review definitions of vulnerability, relevant regulations in the United States, and their implications for special protections among various populations, including: Children, pregnant women and fetuses, prisoners, cognitively impaired persons, patients in emergency settings.