BUSI 302 Week 3 Discussion Board Forum 2 Thread Example

Reviewed by Laura Hargrove, MPH · Liberty University · Updated

This BUSI 302 Week 3 sample thread puts the course's chapter on law, the courts and contracts to work on a decision a practice manager actually faces: whether to keep a noncompete clause in the contract offered to a new pediatrician. It walks through the elements that make a contract valid, then turns to restrictive covenants, which bar a departing physician from practicing within a set distance for a set time. Research supplies the facts: 70% of surveyed gynecologic oncologists had a noncompete in their current contract, courts upheld 72% of the clauses challenged in neurosurgery cases and the law differs by state. The thread weighs the practice's interest against patients' continuity of care and recommends a narrower clause. Liberty University BUSI 302 assigns this 75-point thread in Module/Week 3 of the BS in Healthcare Administration.

CourseBUSI 302 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare (BUSI302)
Module/Week3
AssignmentDiscussion Board Forum 2 Thread
Paper typeDiscussion thread
Lengthabout 505 words (thread and replies). Course guide: a thread of at least 450 words demonstrating course-related knowledge and citing at least 2 scholarly sources other than the course textbook in current APA format
FormatAPA 7 citations and reference list
Points75
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramBS in Healthcare Administration
Where it sitsModule/Week 3 in Liberty's published BUSI 302 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 302 Week 3

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Discussion Board Forum 2: Contracts, Noncompete Clauses and Patients

BUSI 302 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare, Discussion Board Forum 2 Thread

Thread by [Student Name]

The practice, the physician and the contract are composites; the textbook and the journal articles cited are real.

Why this part earns its pointsThe thread starts with a contract the writer's practice is drafting, so the chapter's principles are applied to a live decision.
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Our pediatric practice is hiring a new physician, and I am preparing the employment contract with our attorney. The owners want to keep the clause from our standard contract that bars a departing physician from practicing pediatrics within fifteen miles of any of our offices for two years. I want to understand that clause before I send it, because the candidate has already asked about it and I need to explain both what it means and why we include it.

Judson and Harrison (2016) explain that a valid contract requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, parties with legal capacity and a legal purpose. Our employment agreement has all of those: we offer a salary and benefits, the physician accepts and each side gives something of value. A noncompete clause, also called a restrictive covenant, is an additional promise inside that contract, and its enforceability depends on whether a court finds it reasonable and consistent with state law. Courts typically ask whether the restriction protects a legitimate business interest, such as patient relationships the practice helped build, and whether its distance and length go further than needed to protect that interest.

Why this part earns its pointsThe research is used to show how common and how contested these clauses are, which matters for the recommendation.
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These clauses are common. Finch et al. (2026) surveyed members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and found that 70% had a noncompete clause in their current contract, 43% said one had affected where they sought work and 83% viewed them negatively. They are also often enforced. Sarva et al. (2026) reviewed 18 litigated cases involving neurosurgeons and spine surgeons and found that courts upheld the clause in 72% of them. Gilman (2024) adds that the law treats these agreements differently from state to state and that the evidence on their net effect on competition and patients is unclear, so he recommends judging them case by case.

The ethical question is what happens to patients. If our new pediatrician leaves after three years, families who have bonded with her would have to follow her more than fifteen miles or start over with someone new. Our interest in protecting the time and money we invest in a physician is legitimate, but it should not cost children their doctor. Continuity matters especially in pediatrics, where a physician who has followed a child since birth knows the family's history, the child's development and the parents' worries in a way a new doctor cannot quickly learn. A contract can be legal and still ask more of patients than it should.

My recommendation to the owners is a narrower clause: five miles from the office where the physician actually works, for one year, with an exception allowing her to keep caring for any patient who chooses to follow her. That protects the practice from a competitor across the street while respecting families' choices. It may also help recruiting, since candidates increasingly compare contracts and a reasonable clause signals that the practice expects to keep physicians by treating them well rather than by restricting them. Have any of you signed or written a noncompete in your workplace, and was it ever enforced?

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References

Finch, L., Broach, V., Long, K. C., Gardner, G. J., Al-Niaimi, A., Sonoda, Y., Abu-Rustum, N. R., & Chi, D. S. (2026). Noncompete agreements in job contracts: Knowledge and opinion of practicing gynecologic oncologist members of Society of Gynecologic Oncology. Gynecologic Oncology, 208, 17-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygyno.2026.03.003

Gilman, D. J. (2024). A competition perspective on physician non-compete agreements. Inquiry, 61, 469580241237621. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580241237621

Judson, K., & Harrison, C. (2016). Law and ethics for the health professions (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Sarva, L., Botterbush, K. S., Sarva, S., Zhang, J. K., Spence, L., Mercier, P., & Mattei, T. A. (2026). The enforceability of non-compete agreements against neurosurgeons and spine surgeons in the United States: A review of outcomes of previous litigation and the current legal landscape. Neurosurgery, 99(3), 510-518. https://doi.org/10.1227/neu.0000000000003877

What the BUSI 302 Week 3 instructions ask

The thread for the second forum is due in Module/Week 3 of BUSI 302, when the reading is chapter 4 of Judson and Harrison, with two presentations, a website and the third Connect homework; replies follow in Module/Week 4. The thread needs a minimum of 450 words, one that shows command of the course material and is supported by two or more scholarly sources in addition to the textbook, formatted in APA style. The chapter covers the courts and contracts, so applying contract principles to a real healthcare agreement, such as an employment contract, a vendor agreement or a patient financial form, fits the week well and gives classmates something concrete to answer.

How this BUSI 302 Week 3 example is built

The thread begins with the employment contract a pediatric practice is preparing for a new physician and the clause the owners want to keep. It reviews the elements of a valid contract from the textbook and explains where a restrictive covenant fits and how courts judge its reasonableness. It then presents research on how common these clauses are, how physicians view them and how often courts enforce them, and weighs the ethical question of what happens to patients when their physician leaves. The thread closes with a recommendation for a narrower clause that protects the practice and families alike, followed by a question for classmates about their own workplaces.

BUSI 302 Week 3 grading rubric: where the points go

Threads in BUSI 302 are commonly graded on reaching 450 words, applying the week's chapter accurately, analyzing a realistic healthcare situation, supporting the argument with at least two outside scholarly sources and presenting it in clean APA style. For a contracts topic, faculty expect contract vocabulary, offer, acceptance, consideration and enforceability, to be used correctly, and they expect the student to recognize that contract law differs from state to state. Threads that weigh legal and ethical considerations together and end with a reasoned recommendation stand out from those that simply describe the law. A position the student is willing to defend in replies is better than a neutral summary.

BUSI 302 Week 3 help: mistakes that cost points

Pick a contract you have seen in healthcare, such as an employment agreement, a vendor contract, a patient financial agreement or a consent form. Identify its elements using the chapter, then focus on one clause that raises a legal or ethical question. Find two scholarly articles about that kind of clause and use them to support your analysis rather than to decorate it. Say what you would recommend if you were the administrator responsible and why, and name who would be affected by the change. Leave classmates a question to answer, since their replies are due in Module/Week 4 while the reading moves on to professional liability, so a clause with liability implications makes a good bridge.

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Other BUSI 302 weeks

BUSI 302 Week 3 questions, answered

What is BUSI 302 Discussion Board Forum 2?

The second 75-point forum, with a 450-word thread in Module/Week 3 on the week's law and contracts reading and two 250-word replies in Module/Week 4.

Where can I find a free BUSI 302 Week 3 sample paper?

Anyone can read the whole BUSI 302 Week 3 thread on noncompete clauses in physician contracts here, with its references, free of charge.

What makes a contract valid?

Generally an offer, acceptance of that offer, consideration exchanged between the parties, parties with legal capacity to agree and a lawful purpose; a contract missing any of these may be unenforceable.

Are physician noncompete agreements enforceable?

It depends on the state; many courts enforce reasonable clauses, and one review of neurosurgery cases found 72% were upheld, while some states limit or bar them.

Why are noncompete clauses controversial in healthcare?

They protect practices' investment in recruiting and training physicians, but they can force a departing physician to move away and leave patients without the doctor they know and trust.

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