The Bioethics Program offers a Master of Science Degree and an Advanced Certificate in Bioethics. Both are targeted to medical students, health professional students and practicing health care providers, who are interested in expanding their training in, and will prepare students for their future careers in, bioethics (clinical ethics, chaplaincy, bioethics consultations for pharmaceutical companies, etc.). Students will also be prepared to pursue further graduate work in health sciences or in fields such as history, philosophy, anthropology or law.
The purpose for requiring these courses is to ensure that students acquire foundational knowledge of ethical thinking in biomedical ethics and then learn to apply that knowledge and the skills of ethical deliberation that they develop to three major areas, namely (1) society and social policies, (2) the clinical encounter, and (3) a hospital’s or health system’s organizational culture and ethos.
Students in the Master of Science degree must take all three courses.
Students pursuing the Advanced Certificate may choose 2 of the 3 courses.
Students will be able to choose elective courses that speak to their individual interests to complete the remaining coursework for both the Master of Science degree and the Advanced Certificate. Their choices will be guided by faculty mentors who can assist them in determining the appropriate course of study.