The Health Justice and Bioethics MA program has rolling admissions. Dual degree applicants should adhere to application deadlines in place for companion degree programs. Students must apply to and be accepted by each program separately and indicate within each application their intention to pursue a dual degree.
In approved dual degree programs, the 15 elective credits are applied from the primary (MD, DPT, PhD or MA) curriculum.
The MA in Health Justice and Bioethics offers MD students at Katz the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the social and structural determinants of health, and it gives them the practical tools to better serve their patients and communities.
Accepted MD students may apply to the MD/MA program as soon as they have committed to Temple’s MD program. While typically started in the fall semester of the first year of medical school, the MD/MA can be started at a later time, including subsequent years and the spring semester.
The MA in Health Justice and Bioethics degree will be conferred upon successful completion of the core curriculum and thesis as well as the following MD required courses (totaling nine credits) and six additional credits of MD coursework in the form of electives.
A detailed course listing and suggested pathway will be provided upon matriculation. Recent elective offerings include courses in narrative medicine, two survey courses called Advanced Topics in Health Justice and Advanced Topics in Bioethics taught by an array of Center for Health Justice and Bioethics faculty, and many others.
The MA in Health Justice and Bioethics provides Philosophy MA or PhD students in Temple’s College of Liberal Arts with specialized training in the ethics, values and politics of health in our increasingly multidimensional, diverse society. The program prepares students with a depth of training and expertise that will enable them to be competitive as they approach future leadership roles in academia, public spheres and practice.
This dual degree program enables student to earn both MA degrees via a total of 38 credits comprising health justice and bioethics core courses and a thesis as well as the following philosophy courses.
The Philosophy MA and Health Justice and Bioethics MA dual degree program can be completed in two years of full-time study or up to four years of part-time study.
The Philosophy PhD and Health Justice and Bioethics MA dual degree program can be completed via a total of 47 credits, comprising health justice and bioethics core coursework, five philosophy designated courses, nine credits of didactic elective courses, and six nondidactic credits (preliminary exam preparation, predissertation research and dissertation research).
The Philosophy MA/PhD and Health Justice and Bioethics MA dual degree program can be completed in at least three, but not more than seven, years of study.
For further information on either dual degree, please contact Brian Hutler in the Department of Philosophy or Catherine Averill in the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics.
Brian Hutler, assistant professor of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts
Email: [click-for-email]
Catherine Averill, assistant director of the Health Justice and Bioethics
Email: [click-for-email]
Several partnerships between the Health Justice and Bioethics MA program and specific medical residency programs at Temple have been endorsed, including internal medicine; obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences; and psychiatry. If you are a Temple resident in another program and are interested in pursuing the Health Justice and Bioethics MA, please send an email to Catherine Averill at [click-for-email].
The aim of the residency/Health Justice and Bioethics MA is to prepare practicing physicians to be leaders in justice-centered practice, research-based programs and policy venues. These programs blend the like missions and values of medicine, health justice, and bioethics, preparing residents with a depth of training and expertise to address the challenges of providing healthcare in 21st-century communities.
Beginning as early as May of their first year of the residency program, residents can begin completing coursework. The Health Justice and Bioethics MA 14-credit core curriculum plus a three-credit thesis are required for all residents.
Fifteen elective credits are required; nine credits will be granted as advanced standing credits for residents who have met the following two requirements.
Graduates from non-U.S. medical schools may request up to six credits of advanced standing credit for successful completion of medical undergraduate or other graduate coursework related to communication skills, consequences of societal problems, diverse cultures and beliefs, gender and cultural bias, and medical ethics and human values.
The Health Justice and Bioethics MA provides Sociology MA or PhD students with a foundation in bioethics research theories and methods while offering additional in-depth experience in applying sociological and ethical critical thinking to contemporary problems and issues at the intersections of medicine and society.
This dual degree program enables student to earn both degrees by completing the Health Justice and Bioethics core courses and thesis and double counting the following sociology courses toward the 15-credit elective requirement.
