About the MA in Bioethics

The Master of Arts in Bioethics degree program provides rigorous, advanced, interdisciplinary study in bioethics for professionals and students interested in the social and ethical challenges facing medicine and the life sciences.

Rapid scientific discovery, the development of technological medicine, and globalization have raised new questions and concerns about how we develop new biomedical technologies and provide health care to growing populations. Research on and utilization of stem cells, artificial reproductive technologies, the ongoing need for human subjects’ protection, the role of corporate sponsorship in research, the public health needs of developing countries, and the fragmented and problematic economic infrastructure of health care delivery are only a few of the more vexing challenges that face us as we move into the twenty-first century.  Our society -  and so our students - need to be prepared to face these and other bioethical challenges in the years to come.

As a leading research and teaching university, graduates of Emory’s Masters in Bioethics will be trained to help to advance the national conversation on important issues influencing public policy, scholarship, practice and education in the field. All students must have a degree from an accredited four year college or university before beginning the program. Many entering students will have also acquired an advanced degree in a related discipline, such as medicine, nursing, law, public health, or theology.  Others may combine graduate work in Bioethics with other graduate or professional education, resulting in dual degrees.

For other videos about the program, please visit the Bioethics Admissions page. 

The Master of Arts in Bioethics requires a total of 30 credits including 18 credits of required bioethics courses - incorporating a practicum experience and capstone project – as well as 12 credits of elective courses.

The MA in Bioethics draws upon the resources of the Emory University Center for Ethics,  the Laney Graduate School, and the six other graduate and professional schools of the University, as well as the Center’s close ties with leading state and national journals and organizations such as the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia, CDC, and NASA.  Faculty members of the Center for Ethics include scholars and practitioners in a variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, public health, law, theology, business, the life sciences, philosophy, religion, sociology, psychology.

For more information, please contact mabioethics@emory.edu.