Dual degree programs are for law students, medical students, and graduate students already accepted and enrolled in the on-site Basic Medical Sciences program at Albany Medical College.
Each program provides education and a structured bioethics curriculum that allows students to navigate complex matters in their chosen profession.
The curriculum details of each program are listed below.
Bioethics and health law constitute broad and dynamic public policy arenas that encompass and range of individual patient care situations, health care delivery mechanisms and systems, and the health care industry standards, with several separate components but interrelated and stakeholders: patients, providers, insurers, drug companies, researchers and innovators, and regulators. The areas of bioethics and health law have expanded in part because of the increased complexity of relationships in the health care field and the intense fragmentation of the American health care delivery system.
Knowledgeable, skilled, and cross-trained ethicists and health lawyers are uniquely qualified to deal with the complexity and fragmentation now, and certainly in the future. Thus, the dual JD/MS programs are designed for law students who wish to add structured bioethics training concurrently to their formal legal education. Because the Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI) Master of Science in Bioethics Program is a personalized education program utilizing distance-learning innovations, qualified law students may add bioethics credentials to their resumes while completing their JD degree requirements.
Career opportunities in bioethics and health law are often posted by organizations such as the American Society in Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) and the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA).
With Albany Law School
Albany, New York
The applicant must be accepted and matriculated in both programs through the admissions process of each program to be enrolled in the dual degree program.
JD/MS students must complete a total of 10 courses. The online and onsite courses include empirical bioethics, research ethics, classic cases, clinical ethics and others. Students also complete a required master's project, choosing a traditional thesis, two publishable journal articles, or a practical project. Law and bioethics joint degree students can satisfy master's requirements by taking three specified courses at Albany Law School. Students can also count 12 credits earned in the Master of Science in Bioethics program toward their JD at Albany Law School. Because students can "double-count" courses, they can complete a JD/MS in Bioethics in three to four years. Albany Law School students may also satisfy the Law School's upper-class writing requirement and the bioethics final research project by completing one research paper that satisfies the requirements of both programs.
The Alden March Bioethics Institute works closely with Albany Law School to create a plan of study that accommodates both schools' schedules. MS courses are offered fall, winter, spring and summer to give students flexibility in completing their requirements. The MS in Bioethics and the JD/MS Degree programs are registered by the New York State Board of Regents.
Medical students at the Albany Medical College who demonstrate outstanding ability and potential through their work in the Scholars in Bioethics Program are eligible for the combined MD/MS in bioethics program. This combined program will allow qualified students to receive both the MD and the MS in bioethics by taking an extra year during medical school, usually between the second and third years, to focus exclusively on bioethics.
The purpose of this program is to prepare future physicians, particularly those with an academic orientation, to pursue bioethics as an area of specialization during their medical careers.
Graduate students already accepted and enrolled in the onsite Basic Medical Sciences program at Albany Medical College who demonstrate interest and outstanding ability are eligible for the combined MS in Bioethics /PhD in Basic Medical Sciences program. This combined program will allow qualified students to receive both the PhD in Basic Medical Sciences and the MS in Bioethics. Students generally enter the MS in Bioethics program during their third year of PhD studies and pursue the degrees concurrently with some course work applicable to both programs.
The purpose of this program is to prepare future scientist/ethicists, particularly those with an academic orientation, to include bioethics as an area of specialization during their careers.
Albany Medical College is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) to award the MD degree and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSA) to award PhD and MS degrees. The dual Cumberland School of Law-Albany Medical College and the Albany Law School-Albany Medical College JD/MS in Bioethics Programs are registered by the New York State Department of Education.