Bioethics Certificate Program

The Columbia University Bioethics Certificate program addresses critical issues concerning the ethical implications of advances in biology, biotechnology and biomedicine. These issues are arising with more frequency both in the United States and throughout the world, and involve critical and profound ethical and moral dilemmas at the intersections of ethics, law, society, culture, public policy, philosophy, religion, economics, history and language.

While scientific and technological advances have far out-paced our ability to understand or make key decisions about these issues, health care providers, researchers, lawyers, and policy-makers confront dilemmas of how to approach and address complex questions every day. Leaders in medicine, law and research are in need of educated professionals, equipped with cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills, to help them clarify, understand and make ethical decisions.

Columbia’s Bioethics Certificate program answers these growing needs. This program provides perspectives from philosophy and the other humanities and from the social sciences for health care providers (including physicians and nurses), researchers, institutional review board members and staff, public health professionals, attorneys, the pharmaceutical industry, and others who confront sensitive ethical decisions concerning the interaction of health care and people. The specially-designed curriculum provides a sophisticated analysis of the historical, philosophical, legal, social scientific and practical “hands on” aspects of bioethics.

The program offers courses focusing on key areas such as the history and philosophy of bioethics, clinical ethics, research ethics, and global bioethics. Courses are offered online beginning in Fall 2013, making it possible for students from throughout the world to study with distinguished leaders in the field, further widening the global network of professionals devoted to this burgeoning field.

The Bioethics Certificate features select courses from the Master’s of Science in Bioethics program curriculum. The certificate curriculum has been specially designed for busy professionals with an advanced degree who need further knowledge of the complex framework for bioethics that incorporates philosophy, history, law, sociology, economics and religion. Developing this framework outside the workplace will prepare them for the complex bioethical dilemmas that arise within professional settings.

Curriculum

The Certificate in Bioethics is a 12-point program and includes the following 4 existing courses:

  • BIET K43XX Foundation of Bioethics, 3 pts.
  • BIET K4450 Research Ethics, 3 pts.
  • BIET K4440 Global Bioethics, 3 pts.
  • BIET K4400 Clinical Ethics, 3 pts.

Admissions

Application Deadline
Fall 2013 Jun. 15, 2013

To apply to the Bioethics Certificate Program, follow the Postbaccalaureate Studies Program application instructions.

Students seeking application guidance should contact the Office of Admissions:

Office of Admissions
School of Continuing Education
203 Lewisohn Hall
2970 Broadway, Mail Code 4119
New York, NY 10027-6902
212-854-9666
ce-info@columbia.edu

Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday, 9:00 AM-6:00 PM
Friday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM

Current Student Advising

Students are required to meet with the faculty adviser when planning a program of study and before each subsequent registration. The academic adviser aids in the selection of courses and monitors academic performance throughout the program, offering advice to those who experience difficulty, assistance in additional course selection is offered to those students interested in applying to Ph.D. programs.

Academic Adviser to Enrolled Students
Karl Rutter, 510H Lewisohn Hall
212-854-9666
kr2456@columbia.edu

Faculty Adviser to Enrolled Students
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Columbia University
rlk2@columbia.edu