School to offer master's degree in bioethics and medical humanities

A new interdisciplinary program launching at UofL this fall will give students the chance to earn a master of arts degree in bioethics and medical humanities.

Core courses will be drawn from philosophy and medicine, with electives from departments campuswide, giving students the flexibility to pursue particular interests while broadening expertise in many areas.

The professional degree program is designed to meet the needs of students from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives, including mid-career health and legal professionals, dual-degree students in health and social work, seminary faculty, students who want to expand their knowledge of bioethics and other professionals in health and life sciences.

"Rapid scientific advancement and technological, legal and cultural change make a broad education in bioethics and medical humanities more desirable than ever," said David Doukas, M.D., co-director of the program and the William Ray Moore Endowed Chair in Family Medicine and Medical Humanism at UofL.

The degree is designed to prepare graduates to teach, pursue scholarly research or enhance their expertise in their primary professional fields. The program can be completed partially through distance learning over the Kentucky TeleHealth Network and requires courses in philosophy and medicine, including a clinical bioethics rotation.

"If you have a background in health care, this degree will provide an enhanced ethical knowledge base, opening doors for service on hospital ethics committees, in teaching and scholarship," said Robert Kimball, Ph.D., program co-director and chair of the Department of Philosophy. "If your background is in ethics, philosophy, theology or social work, you will graduate prepared to work in health-care settings."

School of Medicine Dean Edward Halperin, M.D., M.A., who will be one of the program's faculty, is enthusiastic about the degree's potential.

"Recent national polls demonstrate that the American public is deeply distressed by the quality of their medical care," Halperin said. "Among the most frequent criticisms of doctors are 'not getting to know me' or 'not spending enough time with me.' The University of Louisville intends to tackle this problem in a direct way using a proven technique: the teaching of the liberal arts related to medicine."