Short Course: Beyond the Cure: Medicine and Human Values

Medicine can save lives, relieve suffering and transform what is possible. But just because we can do something, does that mean we should?

From decisions about life and death to questions of consent, enhancement, identity and the value we place on human life, medicine forces us to confront some of the most difficult choices imaginable.

Who should decide what counts as a life worth living? Do we have a right to control our own bodies? Can medicine ever go too far? And what happens when scientific possibility collides with deeply held beliefs?

Across three weeks, students will explore these questions through the lenses of philosophy, ethics and religion, challenging their assumptions about health, suffering, autonomy and what it means to care for another human being.

Three weeks. Three lenses. Some decisions have no easy answer.