Bioethics Undergraduate Certificate

Those who work in fields involving human health face problems that are increasingly ethically complex, and to respond to such challenges in ways that are ethically acceptable, and even promote human flourishing, requires a honed attentiveness to morally relevant issues and virtues such as wisdom, courage, compassion, and justice. The purpose of the Bioethics Certificate is to prepare students for excellence in their respective vocations, and this not only in the technical sense—laying the foundation for proficiencies needed for those professions—but also in a moral sense.

Through the certificate, students will learn the major methodological approaches to biomedical ethics and cover the most common issues that arise in bioethics and they will practice ethical reasoning about difficult historical cases and learn the history of the field:

1. The core courses are required as they will introduce students to the field of bioethics.
2. In the theoretical course, students will explore foundational questions in bioethics.
3. The applied bioethics courses each take a narrower focus on social and ethical issues as they relate to a specific domain of healthcare, medicine, or scientific research.

Requirements: 12 hours (9 hours at the advanced level)

Core Courses (6 hours, required)

• PHI 1309 Introduction to Medical Ethics
• REL 4395 Bioethics

Theoretical Bioethics Courses (3 hours required)

• ANT 4325 Medical Anthropology
• PHI 3301 Moral Philosophy
• PHI 4325 Literary & Philosophical Perspectives in Medicine
• PHI 4363 Philosophy & Medicine
• MH/CLA/HIS 4300 History of Medicine
• MH 4396 Disability and Society
• NSC 3381 Neuroscience and the Law 
• REL 4389 Disability Ethics

Applied Bioethics Courses (3 hours required)

• ANT 1325 Introduction to Global Health
• ANT 4362 Applied Anthropology
• MH 4351 Supervised Clinical Medicine
• MH 4372 End-of-Life Care and Bereavement
• MH 4382 U.S. Health Care Systems
• PUBH 4340 Global Health
• SWO 4316 Trauma, Loss, and Mourning
• SWO/SOC/GRT 4395 – Aging and Mental Health

* Undergraduates residing in Waco, courses taken can also count for majors and minors. The certificate will appear as a notation on your final official transcript.

Please email your application form and questions to Teah Byford at teah_byford@baylor.edu.