The Urban 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 Urban 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 Urban 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 Urban Bioethics faculty, and many others.
The MA in Urban 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 urban bioethics core courses and a thesis as well as the following philosophy courses.
The Philosophy MA and Urban 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 Urban Bioethics MA dual degree program can be completed via a total of 47 credits, comprising urban 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 Urban 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 Urban Bioethics.
Brian Hutler, assistant professor of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts
Email: brian.hutler@temple.edu
Catherine Averill, senior advisor in the urban bioethics program
Email: catherine.averill@temple.edu
Several partnerships between the Urban 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 Urban Bioethics MA, please send an email to Catherine Averill at catherine.averill@temple.edu.
The aim of the residency/Urban Bioethics MA program is to prepare practicing physicians to be leaders in bioethics-related practice, research-based programs and policy venues. These programs blend the like missions and values of medicine and urban bioethics, preparing residents with a depth of training and expertise to address the challenges of providing healthcare in 21st-century urban communities.
Beginning as early as May of their first year of the residency program, residents can begin completing coursework. The Urban 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 Urban 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 urban bioethics core courses and thesis and double counting the following sociology courses toward the 15-credit elective requirement.
Dual degree students pursuing the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)/MA in Urban Bioethics enhance their disciplinary training through
A student graduating with the DPT/MA in Urban Bioethics will graduate having completed 147 credits: 130 credits of DPT coursework (earning the DPT) and 17 additional credits of MA coursework.
The MA degree in the dual DPT/MA curriculum includes 15 credits earned through the DPT curriculum, with the addition of 17 credits of MA coursework through the Center for Urban Health and Policy at the Katz School of Medicine. The course sharing is unidirectional, with the DPT program accepting none of the MA coursework.
As a supplemental degree, the MA program holds as one of its primary responsibilities ensuring that DPT students always keep their core DPT curriculum primary.
The following are applicable DPT courses that can be counted toward the MA.