Case Study Guidelines
The second main section of the course will require that you complete case studies each week, in lieu of quizzes. Each case study will present you with a real life case, that you will analyze according to the “four-boxes approach.” There is no trick to the four boxes approach; it is simply a useful tool to make sure that you have gathered together all the relevant data (or as much data as possible) so as to come to an ethical decision and plan of action. Keep in mind that many times in clinical ethics, there may not be a single right course of action, but there are certainly better or worse options.
Furthermore, when you use the four boxes approach some boxes, or principles which the boxes are meant to clarify, may play a dominant role in the final ethical assessment while others may play little or no role at all. In a similar way, some cases may provide you little or no data to put in one box, while it fills up others boxes. Part of your task is that you make sure to gather as much data as possible and ask all the relevant questions in the boxes. Then, when you have gathered all the relevant data, you can analyze the case and come to a recommendation based on this data.
The format for your case analysis will be the following:
Fill out all the relevant boxes (use the template on the page below. I recommend using the page below and or copying and pasting it so that it fits neatly into format. Provide the info by means of bullet points, or a well structured paragraph in the box) and gather as much data as possible.
After you have filled in the relevant boxes with as much detail as possible, provide a one to one and a half page (double spaced, 12pt font) analysis and recommendation. This will take into account the four principles that have been the core of our study up until now. Thus you will present us with a recommendation for action, what you think the physician or healthcare provider should do in the present situation.
This paper ought to be well written and edited before turning in.
You will be graded on the following:
o Detail and completeness in your four boxes.
o Thoughtful and well-written analysis of the relevant ethical moral issues (proper grammar, spelling, complete sentences, etc.)
o Clear presentation and course of action or recommendation (i.e. be clear about what you think the physician ought to do in the particular case and why).
Medical Indications Patient Preferences
Quality of Life Contextual Features