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Dual Degree Programs

Dual Degree Programs - MA in Urban BioethicsThe MA Urban Bioethics program has rolling admissions. Dual degree applicants should adhere to application deadlines in place for companion degree programs. Students must apply to and be accepted by each program separately and indicate within each application their intention to pursue a dual degree.

In approved dual degree programs, the 15 elective credits are applied from the primary (MD, DPT, PhD or MA) curriculum.

MD/MA Urban Bioethics

The MA in Urban Bioethics offers MD students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the social and structural determinants of health and gives them the practical tools to better serve their patients and communities.

Accepted and matriculated MD students may apply to the MD/MA program as soon as they have committed to Temple’s MD program. While typically started in the Fall semester of Year 1 of medical school, the MD/MA can be started at a later time, including subsequent years and Spring semester.

The MA in Urban Bioethics degree will be conferred upon successful completion of the Core Curriculum and Thesis as well as the following MD courses:

  • Doctoring I: Introduction to the Culture and Practice of Medicine (equivalent to 4 credits)
  • Human Gross Anatomy (equivalent to 4 credits)
  • Doctoring II: Clinical Skills, Professionalism, and Medical Ethics (equivalent to 4 credits)
  • Academic Medicine Rotation (equivalent to 3 credits)

Limited financial support is available for MD/MAUB students.

PhD or MA Philosophy/MA Urban Bioethics

The MA in Urban Bioethics provides Philosophy MA or PhD students with specialized training in the ethics, values, and politics of health in our increasingly multi-dimensionally diverse society and will prepare students with a depth of training and expertise that will enable them to be competitive as approach future leadership roles in academia, public spheres, and practice.

The dual degree program enables the student to earn both MA degrees via a total of 38 credits consisting of the Urban Bioethics core courses and Thesis as well as the following Philosophy courses:

  • One Values-designated course
  • One Epistemology/Metaphysics-designated course
  • One Ancient philosophy course
  • One 17th-18th Century philosophy course
  • One Kant/Hegel course
  • 6 credits of didactic elective courses

The MA Philosophy/MA Urban Bioethics dual degree program can be completed in two years of full-time study or up to four years of part-time study. 

The dual e PhD Philosophy and the MA Urban Bioethics degree progfam can be completed via a total of 47 credits, consisting of the Urban Bioethics core coursework, the five philosophy designated courses, 9 credits of didactic elective courses, and 6 non-didactic credits (preliminary exam preparation, pre-dissertation research, and dissertation research).

The PhD Philosophy/MA Urban Bioethics dual degree program can be completed in at least three, but not more than seven, years of study.

For further information on either dual degree, please contact Dr. Miriam Solomon in the Department of Philosophy or Catherine Averill  in the Center for Urban Bioethics.

Medical Resident/MA in Urban Bioethics Array

Several partnerships between the MAUB Graduate Program and specific medical residency programs at Temple have been endorsed: Internal Medicine, OB/Gyn, and Psychiatry. If you are a Temple resident in another program and are interested in pursuing the MAUB, please contact Dr. Nora Jones.

The aim of the Residency/MAUB program is to prepare practicing physicians to be leaders in bioethics-related practice, research-based programs, and policy venues. These programs blend the like missions and values of medicine and urban bioethics, preparing residents with a depth of training and expertise to address the challenges of providing health care in 21st century urban communities.

Residents, beginning as early as May of their first year of the residency program, can begin completing coursework. The core MAUB 14 credits plus 3-credit thesis are required for all residents.

Fifteen elective credits are required; nine credits will be granted as advanced standing credits for residents who have met the following two requirements:

  • Pass USMLE Steps 1, 2 CK, and 2 CS prior to starting at Temple; and
  • Meet one of the following two criteria:
    • Graduation from a medical school in the United States or Canada, accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME); or,
    • Graduation from a college of osteopathic medicine in the United States, accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).

Graduates from non-US medical schools may request up to 6 credits of advanced standing credit for successful completion of medical undergraduate or other graduate coursework related to Communication Skills, Consequences of Societal Problems, Diverse Cultures and Beliefs, Gender and Cultural Bias, and Medical Ethics and Human Values.

PhD or MA Sociology/MA Urban Bioethics

The MA in Urban Bioethics provides Sociology MA or PhD students with groundwork in bioethics research theories and methods while offering additional in depth experience in applying sociological and ethical critical thinking to contemporary problems and issues at the intersections of medicine and society.

The dual degree program enables the student to earn both degrees by completing the Urban Bioethics core courses and Thesis and double counting the following Sociology courses toward the 15 credit elective requirement:

  • SOC 8111: Classical Social Theory or SOC 9111: Contemporary Sociological Theory
  • SOC 8011: Logic of Inquiry 
  • SOC 9211: Data Analysis 
  • SOC 9241: Qualitative Data Analysis 
  • SOC XXX: Sociology Didactic Elective