History of the Program

An inter-disciplinary and inter-campus program in Applied and Professional Ethics was initiated in 1996 as a joint program sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The program is a response to the growing interest in ethics of both health care and the practice of medical and legal professionals. The program aims to provide students with a rigorous philosophical training in ethical theory and moral reasoning and courses in which this knowledge is applied to issues in the ethical practice of health care, law, research, and other professions. The focus of the applied courses is on noteworthy issues such as those arising in clinical bio-ethics, issues of justice in law and health care policy, and the ethical conduct of scientific research.

This program grows out of the research interests in ethics of faculty in the Philosophy Department and in several of the professional schools. These faculty agree on the need to bring both a more philosophical approach and a thorough understand of the law and health care professions to the study of these ethical issues. The intellectual richness of the subject and the shortage of people highly qualified to do this work led to the decision to begin a graduate program.

Degree Offered

The course of study in the graduate program in Applied and Professional Ethics links analytic and foundational studies in moral theory and applied ethics with the actual practice of health care and other professions. The interdisciplinary and inter-professional features of the program allow for a dynamic atmosphere in which to discuss, reflect, study, and analyze ethical problems unfolding in our society.

The program consists of interdisciplinary pro-seminars, core corses in moral theory, and applied ethics and elective courses selected in consultation with the advisors. Degree candidates either will write and successfully defend a master's thesis or carry out a research project.

Who should apply?

The masters and certificate program in Applied and Professional Ethics is directed to those who are:

• Healthcare professionals such as healthcare administrators, physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals (e.g. ministers, teachers) working in healthcare environments who desire to include knowledge of bioethics in their professional practice.

• Other professionals such as researchers in the life sciences, policy, legal areans who would like to understand and work with the ethical issues arising in their professional domain.

Program Admission

Admission to the program is competitive. Admissions requirements are those of the University of Maryland Graduate School, Baltimore. Applicants are encouraged to consult with the representative of the Graduate School before seeking admission. Applicatns shall elect one of the applied tracks in the program: Bioethics and the Ethics and Health Care or Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

For additional information about admission into the graduate program, please contact the Director of the Master's Program, Dr. Susan J. Dwyer (dwyer@umbc.edu) at 410-455-2005.

Degree Requirements

All students must complete the following four core courses:

• PHIL 600 Proseminar in Applied Ethics (repeatable)
• PHIL 640 Scientific Reasoning
• PHIL 650 Moral Theory
• PHIL 655 Applied Ethics

Certificate candidates must complete a minumum of 18 credits. These include the core courses (10 credits minimum) and eight credits of elective courses. Elective courses are offered in the graduate school and the professional schools, and they must be chosen with approval from the student's advisor.

Those seeking an M.A. Degree are required to take a minimum of 30 credits. These include the core courses (10 credits mimimum), other required and elective courses, and a master's thesis and defense or research project. Elective courses are offered in the Graduate School and the professional schools, and they are chosen with approval from the student's advisors.

Sample Electives:

• PHIL 400 Independent Study in Philosphy
• PHIL 452 Topics in Ethics
• PHIL 454 Environmental Ethics and Policy
• PHIL 472 Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Science
• PHIL 652 Contemporary Ethical Theory
• PHIL 701 Directed Independent
• SOWK 664 Racism and Diversity
• SOWK 706 Mental Health and Social Policy
• SOWK 713 Social Policy and Health Care
• SOWK 765 The Nature of Health and Illness
• Law 516J Health Care Law
• Law 596G Law and Biomedical Sciences Seminar: Medical Research
• Law 534D Critical Issues in Health Care
• MAPE 601 Philosophy of Medicine Through Literature
• NURS 790 Ethics in Health Care
• PHARM 790 Ethics in Health Care
• DCJS 512 Dental Ethics
• DCJS 538 Dental Ethics
• ECON 652 Politics of Health
• POLI 652 Health Economics
• POSI 612 Ethics and Public Policy
• PSYC 649 Foudnations of Behavoral Medicine
• PSYC 786 Psuchological Aspects of Aging
• SOCY 651 Sociology of Health and Medicine
• SOCY 652 Sociology and Health Care Organization and Delivery

Facilities and Special Resources

In addition to the research facilities available on both the UMB and UMBC campuses, UMB has a world-class health science library available to all students. UMBC and UMBC have rich placement resouces for students enrolled in PHIL 790 Applied Ethics Practicum. The nearness of our nation's capital provides the opportunity of associating with national leaders and scholars in ethics. Nearby national research center libraries and museums are also resources for scholarly activity.