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MD-MA Dual Degree Program

Tackling the issues of humane qualities in medicine

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Overview

The rapid rate of scientific, technological, legal and cultural change in today’s world makes a broad education in bioethics and medical humanities more desirable than ever. Polls demonstrate that Americans most frequently criticize their doctors for "not getting to know me" and "not spending enough time with me." What happened to doctors' ability to talk to patients? What happened to humane qualities in medicine?

These are the issues that the dual degree program intends to tackle.

The MD-MA program combines the medical school curriculum with the interdisciplinary master of arts in bioethics and medical humanities, a professional degree intended to provide graduates with an enriched ethical knowledge base, preparing them to work in clinical or hospital settings and to undertake scholarly research or teach in the field of bioethics and medical humanities.

The program will enhance your contextual experience within their primary professional field – in this case, medicine. Degree holders may participate in hospital ethics committees, teach medical ethics and humanities, understand the interaction of religion/spirituality and medicine, or be equipped to interpret issues in bioethics to the general public and the media.

Those students entering the program with a theoretical base will gain the tools to apply theory to real-world problems. Those entering with hands-on experience will gain the theoretical underpinnings for careful analysis of real-world problems.

Core courses will be drawn from philosophy and medicine, with electives available from the Schools of Law, Medicine, Public Health and Information Sciences, and Social Work, as well as the Arts and Sciences departments of history, Pan-African studies, philosophy, political science, psychological and brain sciences, sociology and women’s and gender studies. This breadth offers students a significant degree of flexibility to pursue their personal areas of interest and broaden their expertise beyond their core knowledge base.

Application and Interview Process

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Application Procedure

Admission to the MD-MA degree program is open to any prospective or first year medical student in good standing attending the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Enrollment in the MA portion of the curriculum is contingent upon satisfactory completion of the first year of medical school.

Required application materials:

  • A Graduate School application
  • A non-refundable $50 application fee
  • A CV or resume
  • Two letters of recommendation addressing your interest in bioethics and medical humanities
  • A personal statement that addresses the question "Why have you decided to pursue an MA in bioethics?" and does not exceed 500 words

Curriculum

The interdisciplinary master of arts in bioethics and medical humanities is a 33-credit-hour program, consisting of seven required core courses and four electives. MD-MA students are expected to complete the dual degree program in five years. Dual degree students will meet the MA program's four course/12-credit-hour elective requirement with the following coursework:
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