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Alden March Bioethics Institute

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Doctorate of Professional Studies in Bioethics


Doctorate of Professional Studies in Bioethics, Concentration in Clinical Ethics Consultation
 
The AMBI DPS is, to our knowledge, the first online program of its kind to offer advanced level training in the knowledge and skills of clinical ethics consultation for qualified applicants. The new program is designed specifically for working, health care professionals who possess a master’s degree in bioethics, or equivalent, and who seek a fellowship level training, both knowledge and applied skills, in clinical ethics consultation. The reasons for creating this program were twofold: 1) there is a growing concern that all clinical ethics consultants be able to demonstrate advanced training necessary to perform state of the art consultations and 2) most working health care professionals doing clinical ethics consultations seeking such advanced training are unable to spend one or two years full-time in an onsite fellowship training program. Because AMBI faculty has over a decade experience offering graduate programs in bioethics, running an active ethics consultation service for over 15 years and offering fellowship training in clinical ethics consultation the AMBI DPS in Bioethics with a concentration in clinical ethics consultation was a natural and final extension of our efforts in graduate bioethics education.

Students in this program are required to work in, or have easy and ongoing access to, a hospital clinical setting in which they have contact with patients and families.  Thus, most qualified applicants will be physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains, but we will also welcome applicants with a legal and administrative background who spend at least part of their time performing clinical ethics consultations.  Students also must have prior masters level education in bioethics, with some evidence of focus in clinical ethics.

Students who participate in the DPS will use their professional work environments as the clinical training ground as they complete a total of 15 hours (5 courses) of advanced online fellowship courses related to clinical ethics consultation and mediation, 12 hours (4 courses) of online elective courses and 3 hours (1 course) of online doctoral research project, which may be a traditional doctoral thesis, 2 publishable journal articles, or an advanced, applied project in the student’s home hospital. Tuition for each 3 credit course is $2,500.

The advanced fellowship courses include carefully structured clinical practical in coordination with AMBI faculty supported by agreed upon mentors and institutional authorities at each student’s home institutions.  At the end of the program graduates will be required have a portfolio of 32 case consultation reports and will have demonstrated advanced level mastery of the ASBH Core Competencies in clinical ethics consultation.

For more information, please contact the Coordinator of Graduate Studies at bioethics@mail.amc.edu or (518) 262-2639.