Minor in Bioethics

About Bioethics and the Bioethics Minor

What is Bioethics?

Bioethics is the study of the ethical dimensions inherent in medical and scientific research, the delivery and practice of health care, the training and conduct of clinical providers, and the creation of national and global health policy. In addition to normative analysis, the study of these important topics requires critical examination of the philosophical underpinnings, history, social and political context, and cultural variables and representations that shape and transform medicine and the life sciences. Therefore, by its nature, bioethics is an interdisciplinary field that brings different methodological and conceptual analyses to a core set of concerns that includes: the doctor-patient relationship; the allocation of scarce medical resources; scientific and medical experimentation; reproductive rights; access to healthcare; patient and surrogate decision-making; assisted dying and end-of-life care; genetic engineering and enhancement; conflict of interest; and advances in biotechnology, genetics, reproductive technologies, and neuroscience.

What is the Bioethics Minor?

The Penn bioethics minor is designed to give students a broad overview of the methods, core content areas, and central ethical questions in the field of bioethics. It is an interdisciplinary program, created through a collaboration of the Departments of Anthropology, History and Sociology of Science, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman Medical School. The minor consists only of selected courses from these six departments.

Students of any major are eligible for the bioethics minor. If interested in the minor and in joining the listserv, contact Dr. Sinderbrand or Dr. Muller.