There are no simple rules to guide ethical conduct in daily practice, health professionals must have a basic understanding of several topics including ethical theories; ethical scandals; laws, regulations, and institutional policies; and public perceptions. This book can be used for self-study, for classroom instruction, and as a refresher and update by practicing health professionals. The chapters have learning objectives, focused content, a summary of important points, a quiz, and a list of key references. Although the book is arranged in a logical order, each chapter may be studied independently.

Author Information

Robert F. Phalen, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Medicine/Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, University of California, Irvine (UCI), California and co-director of the UCI Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory. Although his primary areas of research are inhaled particle physics and the health effects of air pollution, he has considerable experience in ethics for health professionals. He chaired the UCI Institutional Review Board (for human research) for seven years, during which his committee reviewed about one thousand protocols, and dealt with many ethics problems. After that, he was a member of the UCI Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for seven years (serving one year as chair of the Committee). Hundreds of protocols passed through that committee, and it was also involved in maintaining the institution’s accreditation by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC).