The Institute of Catholic Bioethics at SJU

Academic Programs:

Certificate Program in Healthcare Ethics:

Certificate Overview:

The certificate program is intended as a value added component to the M.S.in Health Administration, M.S. in Health Administration’s Health Education Joint Degree or M.S. in Long Term Care Administrative Programs. Once students have completed their degree of choice, successfully completing 2 additional courses in Ethics will earn them their certificate. The goal of the certificate program in Healthcare Ethics is to offer a distinctive program of studies to prepare individuals for the complex and growing field of biomedical ethics. The program seeks to provide graduate educational opportunities that will enable students to reflect systematically on contemporary issues in bioethics, medical research and healthcare principally through the prism of the intellectual heritage of the Roman Catholic philosophical and theological tradition. The certificate program is intended for those who are working in the healthcare field especially members of Institutional Ethics Committees both in hospitals and nursing homes, Organizational Ethics Committees and members of Institutional Review Boards. It is also for professionals in the healthcare field who wish to pursue a credentialed career or those who wish to enhance their expertise in ethics.

Certificate Requirements:

The certificate program requires each individual to take four courses. Two of these courses
will be required courses:

* Ethics of Healthcare
* Healthcare Law 

 The remaining two courses can be taken from the following electives:

* Women and Healthcare
* Health Policy
* Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability
* Aging in America
* Justice and Healthcare
* Research and Ethics
* Catholic Social Teaching and Healthcare
* Religion and Healthcare
* Contemporary Topic in Bioethics
* Healthcare Disparities

Admission Requirements:

- A completed Graduate Application Form with a non-refundable application fee of $35

- Complete and official sealed transcript of all coursework from each undergraduate and graduate school attended.
- Two letters of recommendation appraising the applicant’s capacity for studies at the graduate level and leadership potential in the healthcare field.

- A 500 word personal statement on why the applicant wishes to pursue a certificate in Healthcare Ethics, and how the applicant hopes to use the certificate upon completion.
- A background in healthcare preferred

Interdisciplinary Health Care Ethics Minor

Health Care Ethics is an interdisciplinary minor, open to all majors, that encourages the study of ethics in all aspects of the health care industry. This will encompass the clinical side of health care as well as the pharmaceutical industry, the health care insurance industry, health care administration & education and medical research. This program is designed to encourage the study and appreciation of philosophical and theological ethics both within the curriculum and through extracurricular activities. Students are urged to seek out independent study programs that will give them practical experience in the health care industry.

Requirements:

6 courses. To maintain the interdisciplinary nature of the program, students must take courses from at least three departments, and no more than three courses from any one department may count for credit toward the minor. A prerequisite will be THE 1301 Christian Social Ethics. A Capstone Seminar Course (focused upon either a particular academic discipline’s approach to or a particular topic in ethics) would be taken in the student’s final year in the program. All students would take PHL 1031 Moral Philosophy during the interim between these two courses. The remaining 4 courses are electives taken from the primary required course list.

Sample Program

First Year: THE 1301 Christian Social Ethics
Second Year: PHL 1031 Moral Philosophy; IHS 2451 Seeking A Better Death: Hospice Care
Third Year: THE 2441 Christian Medical Ethics; ECN 2661 Economic of Health Care
Fourth Year: PHL 2321 Philosophy of Death; Capstone Seminar Course