The many advances in health sciences have resulted in new, complex ethical considerations for individuals, health care professionals, institutions, and other relevant decision makers. Professionals in public health, prevention sciences, health sciences, the life sciences, and the social sciences have relied on the field of bioethics when dealing with controversial issues related to (1) individual vs. community rights, (2) analysis of benefits, harms, risks and costs, and (3) ethical issues in global health research.
Students will learn about ethical issues in population health practice, research, and policy. For example, they will examine questions related to individual and community responsibilities during infectious disease outbreaks and man-made or natural disasters. They will consider the ethical implications of various public health practices related to human rights, domestic and international research, resource allocations, security, and genetic/health screenings, as well as other relevant areas.
Students will complete the Bioethics MA curriculum and the MPH curriculum except that students in the combined program will be allowed to double-count courses as follows:
Through the dual degrees program, the two degrees can be obtained with a total of 60 earned credits, as compared with the 75 credits required if the degrees are obtained separately.
Students will complete the Bioethics MA curriculum and the MPH curriculum except that students in the combined program will be allowed to double-count courses as follows:
- PBHL-H 602: Public Health Internship (3 credits) will count toward both degrees, replacing PHIL-P 548: Clinical Ethics Practicum (3 credits) in the bioethics curriculum.
- Students must complete a capstone research project by receiving 3 credits under PBHL-H 705 and 3 credits under PHIL-P 803. These 6 credits will be counted toward both degrees. They will count as electives in the MPH curriculum, and as concentration-specific electives in the Bioethics MA curriculum.
- Students will also be allowed to select up to 6 credits of the following electives from either the Bioethics MA or the MPH curricula (no more than 3 credits from each). These 6 credits will be counted toward both degrees. They will count as electives in the MPH curriculum, and as concentration-specific electives in the Bioethics MA curriculum.