The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing launched a new dual-degree Master of Arts (MA) in Bioethics and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program taking applicants this spring and commencing at the start of the Fall 2014 semester.

Offered through the Laney Graduate School and the Nursing School, this program is the newest of Emory’s five MA-Bioethics dual-degrees, according to MA-Bioethics Program Director Toby Schonfeld.

Emory joins Case Western Reserve University and University of Pennsylvania as the only three universities in the United States offering this program.

“Bioethics itself is an interdisciplinary program,” Schonfeld said. “It seemed natural to integrate it with different programs at Emory, and we knew for a while that we wanted to partner with the School of Nursing.”

Schonfeld teaches Classical Issues in Bioethics, the second of the program’s three foundational courses, which deals with standard ethical issues like informed consent and the challenges of end of life care. The first foundational course, Bioethical Theory, introduces the language and methodology of bioethics, while the final foundational course, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, focuses on “whatever contemporary issues there are of the day,” according to Schonfeld.

“The dual-degree program enhances the clinical care nurses give patients,” Schonfeld said. “Those who have more involved practices are more involved with policy and management. The MA in Bioethics prepares them to address the ethical issues they face in a management position.”

Along with the foundational courses and a final thesis, dual-degree students working toward their MA in Bioethics must take two one-credit bioethics seminars, four three-credit electives and a practicum, which involves 120 hours of work at hospice centers, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Grady Hospital, Emory University Hospital, or other medical institutions, according to the Nursing School site.

The MA program requires 30 credit hours, while the MSN program ranges from 49 to 64 hours, depending on concentration. At the School of Nursing, students take a variety of MSN courses, such as Staying Healthy, Genetics, Advanced Pathophysiology and Innovative Leadership for Health Professions.

Within the MSN sect, students can pursue one of nine different concentrations of nursing. The addition of the MA in Bioethics enhances each of these more specific fields, such as Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Midwifery and Emergency Nurse Practitioner, by preparing them for ethical challenges, according to Schonfeld. A nurse studying the Adult-Gerontology concentration, for example, would become familiar with sustainability issues and scarce resources in geriatric care, while a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner would have to consider childhood obesity, childhood vaccination and the social impact of childhood illness, according the Nursing School website.

Applicants must apply to both the Laney Graduate School and the School of Nursing separately to qualify for the program, and will often take courses in Bioethics for one to two years first before spending two to three years at the School of Nursing.

Priority applications for the fall 2014 semester are due Dec. 1, 2013 and regular applications can be sent in through April 2014.

– By Lydia O’Neal 

Corrections (10/30 at 11:10 p.m.): The original article mentioned a second degree that the School of Nursing has not officially offered yet.

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