Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics

Urban Bioethics is grounded on the assertion that health disparities are an ethical problem. The Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University explicitly focuses on applying the bioethics toolbox—critical thinking, reflexivity, ethical analysis, ability to effectively communicate, foregrounding social and structural determinants of health—to questions of health equity, health justice and the elimination of unethical health disparities. While health disparities—differences in health outcomes based on social, economic, political and structural forces—are endemic to much of the United States, urban and rural alike, the Center for Urban Bioethics at Temple University focuses a critical lens on urban spaces, areas defined by their density, diversity and disparities.

Graduates of the Urban Bioethics master’s program gain the theoretical foundations and practical tools and skills to apply their degree in a wide range of clinical, research, public health and other settings. The Katz School of Medicine and Center for Urban Bioethics welcomes all applicants who anticipate that their work may benefit from the perspectives gained from our program and from the exposure to our inter-disciplinary and inter-generational student body. Our students bring to the classroom a broad range of life experiences and fields, including medicine, public health, law, social sciences, public policy, social work, industry, administration, education and research.

The diverse perspectives and wide-ranging knowledge of our students is our program’s greatest strength, and the interdisciplinary experience of the urban bioethics student body as a key element in fostering health equity in all communities.

Examples of urban bioethics in action include:

• bringing attention to the impact of racism/negative structural forces on the patient experience of health care through ‘Equity Rounds’ and ‘Bioethics M&Ms’;
• public intellectualism dedicated to countering disinformation, misinformation and conspiracy theories;
• advocacy in bringing voices of the underrepresented to policy tables;
• applying an anti-racism lens to contemporary organ donation and transplantation guidelines and practices;
• improving clinical trial development and patient interactions with research staff as a clinical research program manager;
• teaching issues of equity and cultural sensitivity in academic settings; and
• engaging in health equity research that centers the margins in evaluating interventions.

If you share our belief that there is an urgency to addressing the ethical issue of health disparities in communities around the world, we invite you to study with us and apply the principles of bioethics to your chosen field.