Master of Arts in Health Justice and Bioethics
Our hallmark educational program, the Master of Arts in Health Justice and Bioethics, is the nation’s only bioethics degree explicitly focused on health equity. This program offers Katz students a unique opportunity to engage in a program centered on health equity in clinical care, research, and policy.
Our interdisciplinary program prepares students to critically examine and address the ethical challenges affecting structurally marginalized communities where systemic inequities shape health outcomes. Coursework is grounded in theoretical and applied bioethics and provides methodological tools for ethical analysis, policy evaluation, advocacy, and community engagement.
Students learn how to address inequities of health and access to medical, legal, and other resources in disparate, diverse, and dense urban areas. Due to the far-reaching impact of bioethics, we welcome students from a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds, including medicine, policy, philosophy, research, industry, administration, and law.
The MA can be completed as a stand-alone degree or as a dual degree in conjunction with medicine (MD), sociology (MA, PhD), and philosophy (MA, PhD). We also offer specialized tracks for Temple University Health System residents in internal medicine, psychiatry, and obstetrics/gynecology.
We welcome a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. We have customized options for students at different points in their careers. Lean more about how you can complete the MA in one of our cohorts:
Pincus Family Foundation Urban Health Fellowship
The Pincus Urban Health Fellowship, funded by the Pincus Family Foundation, is a three-year program that provides a targeted cohort of healthcare professionals with a well-rounded education about the state of pediatric health in urban communities. The program equips them with the skills to develop and implement innovative approaches to address health equity in this population. A core goal of the fellowship is to build a team knowledgeable about, committed to, and embedded in urban communities like North Philadelphia.
Fellows complete the Master of Arts in Health Justice and Bioethics program in year one, which includes the core curriculum along with specialized pediatric bioethics and public health electives, all uniquely crafted to enhance the Fellows’ educational experience. This theoretical and methodological groundwork becomes the basis for a year-long project in year two. Fellows identify a specific pediatric problem in North Philadelphia and work with academic, medical, and community mentors to develop, implement, and produce a thesis that evaluates an innovative intervention with the goal of improving pediatric health in a fiscally sustainable way.
Our Pincus Fellowship site has more information about the fellowship and the next cycle of applications.
Health Justice and Bioethics throughout Temple University
The Center for Health Justice and Bioethics is also home to the LKSOM’s Service Learning program for medical students. Service learning is a form of experiential education that centers on both action and reflection. Service learning works to achieve real objectives for the community as well as to deepen self-understanding and professional skills for the student. The LKSOM Service Learning Program is a longitudinal curriculum that encompasses the service itself, on-site facilitation and support, and post-service reflection and feedback.
In addition to teaching our in-house Health Justice and Bioethics courses, our faculty lend their expertise and instruction to a variety of other programs throughout Temple University and the Health System.