Certificate in Health Care Ethics

Mark C. Aita, S.J., M.D., Program Director

Barbelin 112f, 610- 660-3427, maita@sju.edu

Program Description

The Certificate program in Health Care Ethics offers 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.

Target Groups

The certificate program is a value-added component to the following graduate programs of Saint Joseph’s University: M.S.in Health Administration, M.S. in Health Administration-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 Certificate program in Health Care Ethics is also intended for those who wish to work or are working in the healthcare field, especially health care professionals, medical students nursing homes, Organizational Ethics Committees, and members of Institutional Review Boards.  It is predicted that in the near future members of Hospital Ethics Committees will be required to have academic certification in healthcare ethics. The Certificate program would prepare them well to handle the difficult ethical problems they face at each meeting. And it would provide the needed certification. The program is intended for all professionals in the healthcare field who wish to pursue a credentialed career or enhance their expertise in ethics.

Executives in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries would also profit from the Certificate program in Health Care Ethics. Clinical research and marketing pose moral questions for pharmaceutical executives. Moreover, healthcare management and allocation decisions also pose moral questions for insurance executives. The Certificate program in Health Care Ethics would help these executives navigate stormy ethical waters.Certificate Requirements

The certificate program requires each individual to take four courses.

Two of these courses will be required courses:

HAD 600	Ethics of Health Care
HAD 554	Health Care Law

Two elective courses:

HCE 571	Health Care Disparities
HCE 573	Death and Dying: Endo of LIfe Decision Making
HCE 574	Spirituality and Health Care
HAD 559	Health Policy
HAD 570	Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Disease & Disability
HED 552	Epidemiology and Community Health
HED 560	Aging in America
HED 573	Women and Healthcare
HED 577	Health Education and HIV/AIDS

(Alternative electives can be taken with the permission of the director)

Up one level: Health Administration