Health Care Ethics

The Department of Health Care Ethics offers a PhD program in health care ethics and two dual-degree programs, a JD/PhD and MD/PhD. Department faculty provide mentoring and guidance to enable students to achieve their individual learning goals as they pursue the PhD in Health Care Ethics. Students may choose to specialize in biotechnological, clinical, professional, organizational, or research ethics. Our combination of rigorous coursework, dissertation research, and clinical experience prepares students for careers in academia and health care. Graduates from our interdisciplinary bioethics PhD program have been employed as academics to teach health care ethics in a variety of liberal arts and health professional programs and as corporate and clinical ethicists in health care. Students pursuing the PhD may opt to complete a "Certificate in Empirical Research Methods in Descriptive Ethics." This program provides students with survey and assessment tools that enable them to gather original data on attitudes, decision-making, and social variables that are relevant to the ethical evaluation of health care practices and policies. These tools enable students to compete for funded research opportunities and to develop skills that are useful for academics and professionals alike.