Combining Ethics & Pastoral Care
This dual graduate certificate program is a collaborative effort of Alden March Bioethics Institute and the Department of Pastoral Care.
Advances in biomedical sciences and medical technology raise urgent questions that must be addressed at the philosophical, public policy and legal level, but also at the spiritual level. These issues are particularly acute as patients and families struggle to make medical decisions that often put to the test their spiritual orientation, be it a traditional religious faith or not. In such situations there is a serious need for trained people who understand both the spiritual dimension of human suffering and the landscape of clinical bioethics. The proposed dual graduate certificate program will provide education designed to meet precisely this need.
The need for people trained in both areas will continue to increase in coming years due to increasing complexity of medical interventions, increases in the need for medical care among an aging population, and the inevitable spiritual and ethical predicaments that people must confront.
Two Certificates in One Year
The dual graduate certificate program now makes it possible for a student to complete both certificates during a 12-month period. Each program will retain full independence in admitting and graduating their students. The involvement of the Clinical Pastoral Education Resident or Intern in the Bioethics Graduate Certificate Program will in no way impact their duties and responsibilities to provide pastoral care to their assigned units and on-call schedules.
Students will be at the Albany Medical Center campus for Clinical Pastoral Education work. Bioethics courses will be online or in person on the Albany Medical College campus. Read more about Clinical Pastoral Education.
Contact Us
Feel free to reach out with questions:
Alexandria Busch
Coordinator of Graduate Studies
[email protected]
518-262-9396