Ethics and Equity in Health and Medicine (POPH30004)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 1
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What makes a good health professional?  In this subject, students will explore and develop two central skills of health practice beyond technical expertise: ethical understanding and addressing social equity.  Marginalisation and disadvantage have long impacted patients’ interactions with healthcare.  Substantial inequalities in health continue today shaped by social, structural, and commercial factors.  In this subject, students will learn about ethics and equity within the health sector, and the power of health workers to make changes when inequity has been entrenched into health systems and policies.  Students will investigate a range of real-world case studies to generate insights into good healthcare practice. 

The subject focuses on humanities and social science reasoning and impactful written communication. Overall, this subject encourages students to consider health beyond a focus on the individual body to encompass an ethical perspective grounded in community and societal factors.

This subject would be appropriate for any student planning a health professional career or other work in the health sector. 

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Identify ethical issues in a range of health settings
  • Identify the social, structural, and commercial factors shaping health and health inequalities
  • Critically reflect on ethical practice and human rights in healthcare in the context of historical wrongdoing
  • Critically apply the four principles of biomedical ethics in an analysis of real-life scenarios
  • Discuss the ways in which attributes such as gender, race, (dis)ability, ethnicity and indigeneity intersect with each other and corresponding forms of systemic discrimination to produce inequitable health outcomes
  • Critically reflect on their own positions with respect to relative power, privilege and capacity for action

Generic skills

  • Effective written communication for academic and general audiences
  • Reasoning in humanities and social sciences
  • Critical analysis of complex issues

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Workshop participation - discussions and brief summary presentations to the class

  • 500 words (equivalent)
Throughout the teaching period10%

4 x 12 minute quizzes

  • 12 minutes (each)
 Week 3,6,9,1220%

Written assignment: Ethics case analysis

  • 1200 words
Week 830%

Assignment: Equity opinion piece

  • 1500 words
During the assessment period40%

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Dates & times

  • Semester 1
    CoordinatorsKaren Block and Rosalind McDougall
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hours1.5 hour seminar per week, delivered on campus, totalling 18 hours 1.5 hours per week in interactive group learning workshops, delivered on campus, totalling 18 hours. 1 hour instructional material and guided learning activities per week, delivered asynchronously online, totalling 12 hours.
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Teaching period 3 March 2025 to 1 June 2025
    Last self-enrol date14 March 2025
    Census date31 March 2025
    Last date to withdraw without fail 9 May 2025
    Assessment period ends27 June 2025

    Semester 1 contact information

    rmcdo@unimelb.edu.au or

    keblock@unimelb.edu.au 

    Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

    OR

    Currently enrolled students:

    General information: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au

    Email: Contact Stop 1

    Future Students:

    Further Information: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/

What do these dates mean

Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:

  • Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
  • And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
       -  Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
     

    Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.

Last updated: 4 March 2025

Further information

Last updated: 4 March 2025