Master of Bioethics (MBE)

About

From the ethics of food production to stem cell research, the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is guiding the conversation about some of the most complex moral and policy issues affecting the health and well-being of people worldwide.

Programs

Offered in collaboration with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the MBE is an innovative, interdisciplinary and cross-divisional graduate program that prepares students from diverse backgrounds to investigate and address the bioethics challenges of professional and civic life. The program combines approaches from science and technology, the humanities and arts, and public health and medicine.

Pathway Program for Undergraduate Students at Goucher college

Undergraduate students at Goucher College have a special opportunity to seek early admission to the MBE degree program. Goucher students who are interested in applying to the MBE degree program should follow the instructions on this program’s admissions page. If accepted conditionally into the MBE program in the summer following their junior year of undergraduate studies at Goucher, these students will work with the program director to select BSPH courses that they will complete during their senior year. During this initial year, they will be considered Special Students Regular (SSR) at the Bloomberg School, since their primary student category will be as undergraduate students at Goucher. They are required to complete at least 6 credits of BSPH coursework, but they may complete up to 21 credits of BSPH coursework as SSRs. They will receive BSPH credit for the coursework completed at BSPH and will have the option to work with the Goucher registrar’s office to receive credit at Goucher as well. By July 1 immediately after graduation from Goucher, the students must contact the BSPH Admissions Office with copies of their official BSPH and Goucher transcripts to request consideration for formal admission into the MBE program. To be eligible to convert their conditional acceptance into formal acceptance for the MBE degree program, students must receive a B or better in all BSPH courses and maintain a 2.75 GPA in BSPH courses, and must graduate in good standing from Goucher.

Program Director: Travis Rieder, PhD

To learn more, please contact: Sebastian Chu, Academic Program Coordinator

Bioethics Certificate Program

This program offers focused academic training in specific areas of bioethics and public health. Designed to appeal to:

Current Johns Hopkins graduate degree students desiring specialization in particular topic areas.
Individuals seeking to learn more about specific areas of public health.

The Berman Institute’s Bioethics Certificate Program is geared toward current JHU graduate students, non-degree-seeking students as well as a broader audience.

Summer Institute

Explore the fascinating interdisciplinary world of bioethics in an interactive, intensive week-long summer institute. Leading bioethics faculty cover both theory and practical application for fields including public health, the life sciences, medicine, nursing, and law. Prior coursework or experience in bioethics is not required. For more information about the Summer Institute in Bioethics, please view our course site or contact Sebastian Chu, Academic Program Coordinator.

Curriculum

The program requires successful completion of a minimum of 64 term credits, including a thesis seminar, and a practicum option. Upon matriculation, each student charts a program of study to meet individual goals.

Full-time students typically complete the degree over four 8-week academic terms plus a few credits during the summer. Part-time students must complete program requirements within four years.

In addition to formal coursework, practicum, and thesis, all students will participate in a variety of supplemental seminars in bioethics, such as the Berman Institute Noontime Seminar Series, Robert H. Levi Symposium, Shallenberger Lecture in Ethics, and the Sheila Hutzler-Rives Memorial Lecture in Palliative Care. These events allow students to interact with a broad network of national and international leaders in bioethics.

Course of Study

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
PH.221.616	Ethics and Global Public Health Practice (typically offered 4th term )	2
PH.306.665	Research Ethics and integrity (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)	3
PH.306.655	Ethical Issues in Public Health (typically offered in 2nd term)	3
PH.390.673	Emerging Ethical and Regulatory Issues in Clinical Research (offered 1st and 2nd terms)	3
PH.550.860	Academic & Research Ethics at JHSPH (All students are required to complete this online noncredit course in their first term of study)
PH.700.601	Foundations of Bioethics (offered onsite in 1st term)	3
PH.700.602	Hot Topics in Bioethics (offered onsite in 2nd term)	3
PH.700.603	Introduction to Ethical Theory (offered onsite in 1st term)	3
PH.700.625	Bioethics and the Law (offered 3rd term)	3
PH.700.630	Food Ethics (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)	3
PH.700.632	Ethics, Policy, and Emerging Biomedical Technologies (typically offered onsite in 4th term every other year)	3
PH.700.642	Vulnerability in Childhood -- from Ethics to Advocacy (typically offered onsite in 4th term)	3
PH.700.643	Understanding Addiction: Philosophy, Science, Ethics (typically offered onsite in 2nd term)	3
PH.700.650	Race and Bioethics	3
PH.700.665	Introduction to Ethics of U.S. and International Human Subject Research (offered in Summer Institute only)	2
PH.700.801	Bioethics Program Thesis Seminar (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)	3
PH.700.840	Bioethics Program Independent Study	2
PH.700.895	Bioethics Program Practicum (offered all terms with instructor approval)	3
PH.700.896	Clinical Ethics Practicum I (offered 2nd term - requires instructor approval)	1
PH.700.897	Clinical Ethics Practicum II (offered 3rd term - requires instructor approval)	2

Focused on the Future

Upon successful completion of the program, students will have mastered the following competencies:

Understand the essential theories and methods that underpin the ethics of public health, clinical care, science, and research;
Recognize ethics issues and questions that arise in public health, clinical care, science, and research;
Articulate and critique policy and scholarly arguments to engage with long-standing and emerging debates in bioethics; and
Understand approaches to fulfilling ethics advisory functions in practice settings.

As a graduate of the MBE program, students will be equipped to drive the responsible pursuit of new knowledge and will be prepared to help develop new tools to consider society’s thorniest issues through a cross-disciplinary lens.

Advances in health care and scientific research benefit people around the world. From the first ventilator to the first vaccine, scientific and technological discoveries have prolonged life and alleviated human suffering while advancing health-related knowledge. However, such advancements often present challenging ethical questions for individuals and society related to appropriate use, access, safety, rights, and obligations.

The MBE program prepares students to make meaningful contributions at the intersection of health sciences and societal impact.

According to the requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), all BSPH degree students must be grounded in foundational public health knowledge. Please view the list of specific CEPH requirements by degree type.