Sunday, November 27, 2011

Diversity

Talk about what diversity means to you. And explain how valuing and championing diversity will help you in your career.
Post the diversity statements from 5 companies or organizations in your field of interest, comment how they are similar and/or different. How do each of these fit with your own diversity values?

To me diversity is just variety. There is a variety of different people throughout our daily lives. Diversity can extend to more than just race, religion, or age.  Being a fan of biology, diversity among animals and plants is a necessity. They need genetic variations so that one disease doesn't wipe them out in one shot. Diversity is what makes a person unique.  I want to be a doctor so valuing diversity will hep me see my patients as individuals and yet not discriminating against them or my coworkers. In some ways, valuing diversity could help me figure out what is wrong with a certain patient and being able to help my patients I will get paid for doing my job and get the gratification of helping someone.


1. Sacred Heart
The primary purpose of Sacred Heart Hospital is to provide a structure and the means whereby the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis can continue their apostolic mission to serve the sick, the aged, the poor and the terminally ill without regard to race, color, creed or national origin. The primary concern of Sacred Heart Hospital and the Hospital Sisters is the patient's well-being—spiritual, physical, psychological and social.
2. Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic staff value and promote diversity. Diversity refers to all the characteristics that distinguish individuals or groups from one another. It includes distinctions based on race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, veteran's status, or status with regard to public assistance.
The goal of Mayo Clinic staff is to create a caring service environment where individual differences are valued, allowing individuals to achieve and contribute to their fullest potential. Benefits of embracing this goal include:
  • Diversity of viewpoints and perspectives in concepts, initiatives and decision making
  • Greater innovations and creativity
  • A broad pool of qualified employees, enabling recruitment and retention of the best talent
An environment that nurtures and supports the fullest contributions of each individual is essential to success in patient care, education and research. Creating and sustaining this climate are the responsibilities of each individual who provides care, directly or indirectly, or learns at Mayo Clinic.
3. Nationwide Children's Hospital

At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, diversity isn’t simply a word used to describe the varied faces you meet in our halls. Diversity describes what we believe in. Our hospital has made a promise to not only acknowledge, but foster and celebrate the diversity of our patients, families, visitors, staff and physicians. Why? Because being an inclusive and welcoming organization makes us better suited to take care of those who need our help the most.

We provide the best care when we understand how our patient’s unique experiences inform their views, and how they expect and deserve to receive treatment. In our day-to-day operations, we strive to shape an environment that lets our patients, families and employees know that they are understood, respected and supported when they are at Nationwide Children’s. Because who they are matters, and always will.
Learn about Nationwide Children's "Who's Who" honorees

Diversity Council

The Nationwide Children's Hospital Diversity Council was established to identify a long-range plan for diversity improvements at Children's, and to lead and support diversity initiatives.
Nationwide Children’s Diversity Council Mission Statement – The Diversity Council will support/lead the hospital’s efforts in celebrating the value of our differences through all aspects of Nationwide Children’s culture.
Nationwide Children’s Diversity Council Vision Statement – The Diversity Council’s vision is to insure and continually advocate for an environment that is inviting, welcoming and supportive of patients, parents, staff and physicians of diverse backgrounds. We will create an atmosphere where the value of diversity is utilized to the fullest by embracing the backgrounds, talents and contributions of all groups reflective of our community who help us achieve the Nationwide Children’s mission.
4. University of Maryland medical center

The University of Maryland Medical System and its affiliated hospitals and health care facilities are equal opportunity employers and proud supporters of an environment of diversity.
5.  Bayshore Community Hospital
We strive to create an environment in which the uniqueness of each person is valued, and where everyone is treated with dignity and respect without regard to race, gender, age, national origin, ethnic background, disability, religion, culture, or sexual orientation.

Even though some of these are shorter than others, they are all pretty much saying that they will treat everyone equally no matter how unique. They respect diversity.  It fits with my diversity values because I believe that everyone deserves equal treatment and would give equal treatment to my patients. there is nothing wrong with being unique.

Carbon Dioxide Paper Evaluation

2. Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the criteria established. Were these good criteria, or should there have been different criteria established?
  •  The criteria that the class made was legitimate references and a good scientific method. The strengths are that they were a bit broad and were hard to stay focused on them.  The strengths of these are that it doesn't incorporate any content of the paper.
3. Reflect on the strengths and the weaknesses of the presentations as a whole. Consider the "yes" and the "no" groups as a whole.
  •  The yes groups looked more at the method of science to justify that the paper was credible, but then I noticed most groups through in some data that contradicted the yes argument.  The no groups picked apart the paper decently as well as the graphs. They focused a little too much on graphs and not enough on the paper itself.
4. Reflect on the group management of your group. what went well, what did not?
  •  The management of the group was good and worked nicely.  We each did research on the paper and the references separately and then came together as a group to discuss our findings within that research. What didn't work well is finding times that our group could meet to get everyone there.
5. Reflect on the personal "ethic" you felt in your group. Did you believe in your position? Were you arguing against your beliefs?
  • I was arguing that this paper was legitimate, but I didn't believe in that position at all.  I helped my group along in this presentation even though it was against what I believed because it was assigned to us no matter what we believed. 
6. Did the class make the correct decision when considering the broader impacts of the global warming/climate change debate? why?
  • I think the class made the right decision that the paper is not legitimate. The "no" groups made stronger arguments than the "yes" ones.  The arguments that the "yes" groups made could be counter-argued but the "no" groups seemed to have more solid arguments. 
7. Explain the statement, "what we do in the US, soon will not matter." Provide evidence to justify this statement.
  •  The US used to be a powerful country and the actions of this country could affect the world.  Other countries such as China are growing rapidly and will soon take over that view. India and China have populations that are increasing well beyond ours and that means they use more resources.  What the US does will no longer matter to as great of an extent as China or India.
8. Explain this statement, "what we do as individuals matters.' Provide evidence to justify this statement.
  • For something to happen it takes at least one individual to do something.  To make a difference in anything at least one individual needs to step up and do something. Sometimes it takes just one person to do something but even if it is a large group, it still means that as individuals they joined that group.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Specific Ethical Question


My interest lies within the medical field. The ethical question I am focusing on is about In vitro. This is a process in which egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside of the body.  Eggs are removed from the woman’s ovaries and then adding sperm to fertilize them. Once fertilized, the egg gets transferred into that woman’s uterus. 1. Is it ethical to do In vitro to help with infertility?

2. It is ethical to do In vitro
                In vitro helps couples/individuals who are infertile have a chance at their own genetic child. If there is a technology giving them that opportunity, why not use it? This technology also helps women who cannot carry a baby full term or even a little bit of the time with the use of a surrogate.  It can be the embryo from that couple but inserted into a surrogate to make a healthy baby possible.  In vitro can also be used to prevent diseases and birth defects in babies. Embryos can be sorted out and healthy ones can be singled out from the ones that will produce a birth defect or disease.  The other embryos will be frozen or exposed of.  Embryos may be destroyed in In vitro but they don’t always survive during natural conception either because some embryos fail to implant in the uterine wall and then never become a baby. 

It is not ethical to do In vitro
                This process goes against religion and the beliefs of the religions. It is a “technical action” rather than an “act of conjugal union”.  It is seen as unnatural because In vitro is done in a lab with a third party instead of a couple doing it themselves naturally. It is like playing God by creating life that wouldn’t normally exist. This also doesn’t limit to just couples but single women with an unknown donor’s sperm to fertilize her eggs, and same sex couples using what they have and an unknown to get an embryo.  The doctors can fertilize eggs and then sort out embryos that are preferred, which could lead to designer babies.  The parents could choose exactly what traits and what gender their child is, which also goes against religious beliefs and takes the individuality out of the individual if parents can just select for what they want.  Those embryos that are not used are killed and those embryos could have become a person if it was used.

3. I believe In vitro is ethical to do. If I was told that I was infertile and I wanted a baby with my genetic material, I would consider In vitro. Most of the time, it isn’t someone’s fault if they are infertile, so why shouldn’t they have a chance to have their own child?