Biomedical Ethics

The Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics (SCBE) is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education, and provides clinical and research ethics consultation. SCBE serves as a scholarly resource on emerging ethical issues raised by medicine and biomedical research.

SCBE offers a scholarly concentration in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities (BEMH) to medical students. This program allows medical students to study in depth the moral, social, and humanistic dimensions of medicine and biomedical science. Using cross-disciplinary methods such as those from philosophy, social science, film, literature, art, and law, students examine the meaning and implications of medicine and medical research.

Degree Requirements

COVID-19-Related Degree Requirement Changes

For information on how Biomedical Ethics degree requirements have been affected by the pandemic, see the "COVID-19 Policies tab" in the "Medicine" section of this bulletin. For University-wide policy changes related to the pandemic, see the "COVID-19 and Academic Continuity" section of this bulletin.

Students who pursue Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities are required to complete 12 units including these two core courses:

Students may select eight elective BEMH units from a wide variety of University, Medical School, and Law School courses. Students interested in co-concentrating with another scholarly concentration must complete the two core BEMH courses plus 2 units in the BEMH scholarly area (six units for each concentration).

Students are encouraged to go through the various offerings and devise a course plan to present to the co-directors, Audrey Shafer and Maren Monsen.

Additional information on requirements for the scholarly concentration is available at the BEMH web site.

Instructions:

Click on the Edit pencil to getstarted.Delete this "Instructions" block when you have finished editing...just click inside the blue box to select and then clickdelete.Do not delete the block immediatelybelow.This block of general University information isrequired.Replace ENTER ANY GENERAL DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM TEXT HERE with any general department/program text, or just delete theline.This might include something generic about support, or instructions on who to contact,etc.If you department has not decided what to do, replace this line with text such as "The department is in the process of making decisions concerning COVID-19 policies and will update this tab when those decisions have been made." Then delete the remaining text below asrelevant.Undergraduate and graduategrading:Pick one statement and delete the others, or enter your owntext.You can add to the text also, perhaps to include reference to whom the student should contact,etc.Also, replace DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM with the name of your own department or program, e.g., Department ofBiology.Enter any additional policies under "Other..." or delete the header if there are no additionalpolicies.When done, save, and send toworkflow.Contact Stephen by Slack (arod) if you have questions, or come to our Bulletin officehours:https://asconfluence.stanford.edu/confluence/display/SASLL/Stanford+Bulletin+2020-21.Note that you will be able to edit this content as new informationdevelops.

COVID-19 Policies

On July 30, the Academic Senate adopted grading policies effective for all undergraduate and graduate programs, excepting the professional Graduate School of Business, School of Law, and the School of Medicine M.D. Program. For a complete list of those and other academic policies relating to the pandemic, see the "COVID-19 and Academic Continuity" section of this bulletin.

The Senate decided that all undergraduate and graduate courses offered for a letter grade must also offer students the option of taking the course for a “credit” or “no credit” grade and recommended that deans, departments, and programs consider adopting local policies to count courses taken for a “credit” or “satisfactory” grade toward the fulfillment of degree-program requirements and/or alter program requirements as appropriate.

ENTER ANY GENERAL DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM TEXT HERE ... OR DELETE THIS LINE.

Undergraduate Degree Requirements

Grading

The DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM counts all courses taken in academic year 2020-21 with a grade of 'CR' (credit) or 'S' (satisfactory) towards satisfaction of undergraduate degree requirements that otherwise require a letter grade.

The DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM has not changed its policy concerning 'CR' (credit) or 'S' (satisfactory) grades in degree requirements requiring a letter grade for academic year 2020-21.

OR ENTER YOUR OWN TEXT OR ADD ANY DETAILS HERE

Other Undergraduate Policies

ENTER ANY ADDITIONAL POLICIES HERE

Graduate Degree Requirements

Grading

The DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM counts all courses taken in academic year 2020-21 with a grade of 'CR' (credit) or 'S' (satisfactory) towards satisfaction of graduate degree requirements that otherwise require a letter grade provided that the instructor affirms that the work was done at a 'B-' or better level.

The DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM counts all courses taken in academic year 2020-21 with a grade of 'CR' (credit) or 'S' (satisfactory) towards satisfaction of graduate degree requirements that otherwise require a letter grade provided that the instructor affirms that the work was done at a 'B' or better level.

The DEPARTMENTorPROGRAM has not changed its policy concerning 'CR' (credit) or 'S' (satisfactory) grades in degree requirements requiring a letter grade for academic year 2020-21.

OR ENTER YOUR OWN TEXT OR ADD ANY DETAILS HERE

Other Graduate Policies

ENTER ANY ADDITIONAL POLICIES HERE

Graduate Advising Expectations

The Center for Biomedical Ethics is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement by both the adviser and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the adviser and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Faculty advisers guide students in key areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing of teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the "Graduate Advising" section of this bulletin.

Co-directors: Audrey Shafer and Maren Monsen

Director Emeritus: Thomas A. Raffin

Associate Director: Mildred K. Cho

Participating Faculty and Staff: Laurel Braitman, Danton S. Char, Julie A. Collier, Jacqueline Genovese, Steven Goodman, Maren Grainger-Monsen, Henry Greely, Alvan A. Ikoku, Katrina A. Karkazis, Sandra S. Lee, Jose R. Maldonado, Michelle M. Mello, Kelly E. Ormond, Laura W. Roberts, Christopher T. Scott, Audrey Shafer, Abraham C. Verghese