In the fall semester, I enrolled in the Honor's section of a course entitled Ethics in Healthcare, which met once a week on the University of Cincinnati's Medical Campus. The class itself was extremely small, compromising of less than twenty Honors students and our professor, Dr Benjamin Just. Dr Just is a fantastic, friendly, and talented professor who also is a physical therapist. I found it very enjoyable to talk to him about his work and experiences outside of class.
In class, we were split into groups of four, which made the small class even more intimate. My group included students from a variety of medical majors who I enjoyed getting to know well. In the first few classes, Dr Just lectured at us about ethics and the ethical dilemnas we will encounter in our careers. The rest of the classes, however, were different. Dr Just gave each group an ethical problem that we had to address in a presentation for the following week's class. Each presentation had to include the specific ethical decision making process that we had learned about in the first few classes. At the end of the semester, I felt well-equipped to handle ethical issues that I may face in my future career as a physical therapist.
Outside of class, my group and I fulfilled a requirement of completing at least ten (10) service hours at a local food pantry called St. Vincent de Paul. The volunteer work consisted of helping to prep the food pantry for the day and walking people through the food pantry itself. It was humbling experience to meet and get to know the patrons of the food pantry, as that population is one I usually do not interact with on a daily basis.
In addition to the material covered in this course's syllabus, I learned how to be a better member of a team, and how to politely and effectively discuss issues with others. Discussing ethical issues, agreeing on a solution, and creating a presentation nearly every week of the semester with my assigned group forced me to fine tune and improve my teamwork and communication skills. As a class, we discussed sensitive topics. During these discussions, I learned how to speak my mind and voice my opinions while also respecting other's views. I am certain I will bring the skills and techniques that this class has taught me to my future workplace.
To exemplify what I learned from this Honors experience, I'm displaying my group's final presentation, in which we offered a solution to an ethical problem that could occur at St Vincent de Paul. This presentation not only further discusses our experiences at St Vincent de Paul, but it also illustrates the ethical decision making process we learned in class.