Program Director Mark Hall

Overview

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers a dual degree program, Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Arts in Bioethics (MA).  The program’s objective is to facilitate an interdisciplinary and comparative study of bioethics and medicine, and to encourage students whose academic or career interests require gaining competence in both disciplines. Students are able to earn two advanced degrees in less time than it would take to earn the two degrees separately.

The dual degree program in bioethics and medicine signals the commitment of both the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to interdisciplinary collaboration and learning.  By spending their time in both the Medical School and the Bioethics Graduate Program, students benefit not only from an array of course offerings from both curricula, but also from the social and general intellectual life of both academic programs.

Students accepted to the MD/MA in Bioethics dual degree program spend four full years in medical school and one year in the Bioethics Program.  After completing initial clerkships in third year OR after initial rotations of the fourth year of medical school curriculum, students enroll in the MA in Bioethics program from August-August and then return to the School of Medicine to finish their medical school curriculum.   The students in the program will complete their MA in Bioethics and have the MA degree conferred at the conclusion of the time (11 ½ months) in the bioethics program.