Medicine in Contemporary Society Selectives
Course Goals
MCS Selectives give students an opportunity to expand their knowledge of ethical, social, cultural, and humanistic issues in medicine in a manner reflective of their own career choices and particular interests. MCS focuses on mastery of knowledge and attitudes related especially to the following core competencies: professionalism and ethics, communication, self-awareness, social context of medical care, and health care systems.
How to Register: Visit CBase -- Choose the Registration Tab and then MCS Selective Registration
Index of Selectives for Class of 2028
- Art and Diagnostic Observation in Medicine
- Becoming a Better MD Through Poetry - Astonished Harvest
- Children and Ethics
- From Insights to Impact: The Promise of Big Data in Decreasing Health Care Disparities
- Hospice as Palliative Care
- Narrative Medicine
- Pain, Drugs, and Ethics
- Quality and Safety in Medicine
- Spirituality and Healthcare
- Telehealth: Docs, Data, and Disruptive Technologies
- Treating Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- Treatment and Advocacy for gender-diverse and sexual minority patients
- The Writing Away Racism Project (WARP): Becoming an Anti-Racist Physician
Descriptions and Syllabi
Course Title: Art and Diagnostic Observation in Medicine
Faculty: Michael Vetrano
michael.vetrano@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
Art observation and diagnostic medicine refers to the use of art and visual arts education
to enhance medical students' observation skills, visual literacy, and, ultimately,
their diagnostic abilities. As the field of medicine grows more streamlined, physicians
are spending less time with their patients. There is much evidence that this decrease
in time, coupled with increased reliance on imaging and test results, can depersonalize
the illness experience, resulting in both emotional dissatisfaction and reduced accuracy
of diagnosis. This course demonstrates how the humanities, including visual arts,
can improve physicians' ability to "see" and interpret clinical information effectively.
Note: This selective has one field trip (local), and the final session is a Zoom session on Thursday, May 22
Course Title: Becoming a Better MD Through Poetry - Astonished Harvest
Faculty: Jack Coulehan and Richard Bronson
John.Coulehan@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Richard.Bronson@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
Through the study of poetry as it relates to the medical experience, we hope to foster
a closer type of critical reading, an ability for a caregiver to understand and convey
the needs of a patient, and an appreciation of the common concerns of the healing
professions. This selective is designed for students interested in reflecting on their
experience in medical school through the medium of poetry. It is open to students
who have never written poetry, as well as to those who have pursued poetry in the
past and wish to re-visit their Muse.
Course Title: Children and Ethics
Faculty: Rina Meyer and Kathy Culver
Rina.Meyer@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Kathleen.Culver@stonybrook.edu
Syllabus
Description
Much of the discourse in contemporary medical ethics focuses on the relationship of
mature and autonomous patients to their physicians. The world of children as patients
is therefore a unique world since these youngest patients have limited ability for
self-determination and limited legal status as minors. Those who specialize in the
treatment of neonates, children, and adolescents find themselves in a ethically and
legally complicated world in which the treatment of a patient as a person is a uniquely
challenging ideal.
Course Title: From Insights to Impact: The Promise of Big Data in Decreasing Health Care Disparities
Faculty: Cordia Beverley and Mary Saltz
cordia.beverley@stonybrookmedicine.edu
mary.saltz@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
Healthcare delivery is increasingly being shaped by the integration of big data.
This Selective will introduce medical students to big data analytics and how it is
used to deliver healthcare services and improve the health of populations. It will
prepare students to better understand the patient populations in Suffolk County as
well as other communities where they will be expected to provide medical care during
the clinical years.
By understanding and using the available data sources, students will be able to identify
significant health issues and become the “Health Commissioners for a Day”, able to
design strategies to address the health disparities that currently exist in Suffolk
County.
Course Title: Hospice as Palliative Care
Faculty: Kathy Van Steen
liveluvyoga@gmail.com
Syllabus
Description
This selective will present the role of hospice in the terminal care of the dying.
As palliative care, hospice offers a method of care that has become main-stream, unlike
it had been in the early days of modern medicine.
Course Title: Narrative Medicine
Faculty: Susan Walker
susan.walker@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
All patient care begins with a story. But how well trained are we to listen and respond
to stories in a meaningful way? In this selective, we will borrow from the world of
literature to develop our skills of close reading and reflective writing. In doing
so, we will seek to hear our patients’ stories, understand the perspectives of our
colleagues, and gain insight into ourselves.
Course Title: Pain, Drugs, and Ethics
Faculty: Kevin Zacharoff
kevin.zacharoff@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
Pain is one of the most common reasons that people seek medical attention in the United
States today. Since 2000 it has been considered to be the "Fifth Vital Sign." For
physicians the management and control of pain poses many ethical problems. Among these
this course will consider the increased prescribing of opioid medications for patients
with chronic pain, along with abuse, misuse, and addiction related to these medications.
We will also examine the special issues of terminal sedation, physician assisted suicide,
the legal and ethical issues involved in assisting people with intractable pain.
Course Title: Quality and Safety in Medicine
Faculty: Jean Mueller
Jean.Mueller@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description:
This Selective will examine Patient Safety and Quality Improvement strategies and
evaluation techniques that can improve performance and outcome measures in the delivery
of health care services throughout the continuum of care.
Course Title: Spirituality and Healthcare
Faculty: David Fleenor
David.Fleenor@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
Research indicates that patients want to discuss their spiritual beliefs and practices
with their physicians, yet many physicians are reluctant to do so. This course will
help medical students understand and overcome that misalignment by empowering students
to respond to challenging situations compassionately and competently. This four-session
selective will enable students to increase their skill and comfort taking a patient’s
spiritual history, respond effectively to patients when they ask their physician to
pray for them, assist patients who delay medical decision making while holding out
hope for a miracle, and respond compassionately to patients who hold religious beliefs
that support suffering as a virtue even when medical interventions could alleviate
their pain. Students will also have the opportunity to reflect on their own spiritualities
and learn how that aspect of their lives can be nurtured as part of their professional
growth.
Course Title: Telehealth: Docs, Data, and Disruptive Technologies
Faculty: Erin Hulfish
Erin.Hulfish@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description
In the era of disruptive technologies in healthcare, clinicians will reach a new frontier
in medical practice. With more data, technology and medical literature than ever before,
how will the physicians role adapt to the changing environment of the greatest reforms
in healthcare? This selective will serve to introduce the topics of telehealth and
telemedicine and discuss the advances in field as well as the laws, ethics, regulations
and the evolving doctor-patient relationship. The course will aim to review the applications
of telemedicine and future implications to the practice of medicine.
Course Title: Treating Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Faculty: Michelle Ballan
michelle.ballan@stonybrook.edu
Syllabus
Description:
The Selective will explore ethical practice with individuals with disabilities with
a detailed focus on how to communicate and treat patients effectively. Physicians
with decades of experience with this patient population will serve as guest lecturers
providing a case-based learning approach to best practice with patients with disabilities.
Course Title: Treatment and Advocacy for gender-diverse and sexual minority patients
Faculty: Allison Eliscu
allison.eliscu@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description:
Physicians will encounter sexual minority and gender-diverse patients in all areas
of health care. Our goal in medicine should always be to promote access to comprehensive
care and provide effective, appropriate, and affirming medical care for all patients.
This selection will explore the developing realities in the treatment of, and advocacy
for, gender-diverse patients.
Course Title: The Writing Away Racism Project (WARP): Becoming an Anti-Racist Physician
Faculty: Maria Basile and Alaba Danagogo, MS4
maria.basile@stonybrookmedicine.edu
alaba.danagogo@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Syllabus
Description:
Can we dismantle systemic and interpersonal racism in medicine? The Writing Away Racism
Project (WARP) hopes to do just that! WARP is a series of creative writing workshops
that offers safe spaces for attendees and facilitators to develop practical knowledge,
skills and attitudes necessary to unlearn racism and promote anti-racist behavior.
This MCS selective offers four highly interactive, memorable and effective workshops
that use inspiring poetry and thought-provoking quotes to encourage authentic conversations
and a transformative growth experience.
No prior writing experience is needed! Just your presence and willingness to engage
with this immersive experience. The goal is to help transform students from being
“not racist” to being “anti-racist” as this is more effective for dismantling racism
in daily life and in healthcare. Through the power of deep listening and consistent
critical reflection, WARP aims to humanize complex issues, empower students, and build
a collective commitment to equity and inclusion in medicine.