The nature of disease and suffering and the goals of precision medicine

Dates, autumn 2024: 12 - 13 + 22 November

Precision Medicine (PM) has emerged as a prominent paradigm poised to transform medical research and clinical practice. Through a broad scope of literature, seminars, and cases brought from participants¿ own research projects, the aim of this course is to facilitate reflection and deliberation on central philosophical and normative issues in the social organization and practices of PM. Key concepts will be utilized to open up the PM paradigm for philosophical criticism and reflection, thus contributing to a knowledge culture of PM where central philosophical, societal, and ethical issues, dilemmas, ambiguities, and controversies can be addressed. Course participants own background and research questions will actively be used as a point of departure for deliberations and reflections.

Upon completing this course the candidate will have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge and understanding about key features and concepts related to PM.
• Knowledge and understanding about different conceptions of suffering, disease, and health in different research traditions, including the aim and scope of these conceptualizations.
• Knowledge about and understanding of key concepts of responsible research and innovation (RRI), including the aim, historical context, and societal role of RRI.
• Knowledge about qualitative (disease specific) research contributions to their research field in PM.

Skills:

• Use different concepts of suffering, disease, and health to open up PM for interdisciplinary deliberation and reflection.
• Compare and reflect critically about PM as a novel way of organizing medical research and clinical practice.
• Identify, draw, and assess normative implications of PM for research and clinical practice, sociological categories and roles (researcher, physician, patient, user participants), persons living with these diseases, caregivers, and society.
• Reflect critically on unarticulated assumptions and premises related to own academic fields and research projects: design, implementation, and impact.
• Find and apply relevant qualitative literature to improve reflection on own research project and research field as parts of a broader knowledge culture.

General Competence:

• Ability to reflect critically on complex and ambiguous issues.
• Ability to analyze and synthesize insights from different perspectives in a non-technical language.
• Ability to communicate and cooperate in an interdisciplinary context.
• Raised awareness of PM through engagement with theoretical contributions and own experiences.