The Ethics of Surrogate Decision-Making in Healthcare

Thursdays from 12:30 pm - 3:30 pm at the Emory University Center for Ethics (ground floor of 1531 Dickey Drive).

About BIOETH 505: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision-Making in Healthcare (Fall 2026)

This graduate seminar examines the ethical, philosophical, legal, social, and practical dimensions of surrogate decision-making in healthcare. When patients lack decision-making capacity, clinicians turn to healthcare agents, guardians, or next of kin to make medical decisions on their behalf. This course explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to decide ethically for another person? Using Buchanan and Brock’s foundational text Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision Making as our introductory framework, we will investigate surrogate decision-making through multiple disciplinary lenses, including philosophical and ethical theories, social and relational perspectives, emotional and psychological dimensions, legal standards and policies, and clinical realities. We will consider diverse clinical contexts including geriatrics, end-of-life care, psychiatric illness, cognitive disability, and pediatrics. Through seminar discussions, reflective writing assignments, and a final research project, students will integrate theoretical knowledge with critical self-reflection and develop their own arguments about ethical surrogate decision-making as applicable to healthcare ethics consultation, policy work, or clinical practice. 

Suitability for a Range of Students & Working Professionals

While the course is offered as part of Emory’s MA in Bioethics program, as a standalone elective it is also suitable for a range of other students.  This course is available to students seeking graduate degrees at Emory or other universities, non-degree seeking students and working professionals (including faculty and staff in all of Emory’s Schools).  Because it is a graduate course, anyone applying to take this course must have previously completed at least a bachelor’s degree.  Students who are not currently pursuing a graduate degree at Emory University will need to apply to be non-degree seeking students in special standing with the Laney Graduate School.

  • For those seeking graduate degrees at Emory, it is important that you discuss this course’s suitability to meet your degree requirements with your academic advisor and/or director of graduate studies.  This is a three credit hour course that counts as an elective in the MA in Bioethics program.  The MA in Bioethics program is not responsible for the degree requirements of other programs at Emory.
  • For those seeking degrees at non-Emory universities, it is important that you discuss this course’s suitability to meet the degree requirements from your home university.  Emory University is not responsible for the degree requirements of other universities. 
  • For those not seeking a degree at Emory, the tuition rates are determined by the Laney Graduate School.  The Laney Graduate School charges $2,711 per credit hour.  As the course is three credit hours, the tuition costs $8,133.  Students who successfully complete this standalone course may apply to transfer these 3 credit hours to the MA in Bioethics program should they later apply to and be admitted to the MA in Bioethics program.  The MA in Bioethics program requires 30 credit hours of coursework for completion. 
  • For Emory faculty and staff, the tuition costs for this course may be covered by the Emory Courtesy Scholarship.  For more information, please visit the Courtesy Scholarship webpage and contact HR. 

In order to apply to take this course without being an Emory MA in Bioethics degree student, you will have to apply as a non-degree Laney Graduate School student. For the Fall 2026 term, the non-degree student enrollment deadline is August 26, 2026.  

For more information about this course, please email: mabioethics@emory.edu.

Meet the Course Leader

Caroline Anglim holds a PhD in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Her scholarship sits at the intersection of religious ethics, bioethics, and medical education with published work appearing in journals such as American Journal of Bioethics, the Journal of Rural Health, the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, as well as an edited volume on religion and social criticism. Dr. Anglim has co-developed innovative education programs including an interprofessional ethics simulation, a graduate certificate in Bioethics and Medical Humanities, and a spiritual needs assessment training program for medical students. Dr. Anglim is a recent recipient of Interfaith America’s Faith and Health Campus Grant and serves as an active ethics committee member at Atrium Health Navicent Medical Center, reflecting her commitment to both academic scholarship and applied clinic ethics.