Online Degrees in Health Care Ethics: A Student's Guide

Online degrees in health care ethics allow students to pursue a career in bioethics or health care ethics. Once they complete a degree in this field, they will be able to apply ethics, jurisprudence, religion, and the social sciences to clinical decision making, health care issues, and research procedures to create solutions. Those with a bachelor's degree in this field can work in a variety of settings from a hospital to a medical law firm. Those who work in the medical field must also have a degree beyond medical ethics and bioethics such as a nursing degree, an M.D., or a medical social work certification.

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Students will also take the required classes to obtain their nursing degree, medical social work certification, or their M.D. Students can also study sociology to satisfy the requirements that are necessary if working in the medical field.

This degree will take approximately four years to complete for full-time students and about six years for part-time students. Students who are combining this with a nursing degree, sociology degree, or medical social work certificate can complete it in about four to five years when attending school full-time. Those who are also pursuing a medical doctor (M.D.) degree will of course take much longer because it takes an average of eight years to complete an M.D. Those who are specializing in a specific field of medicine will take longer, and exactly how long will depend on the specialty they choose.

Ashford University, whose home campus is located in Clinton, Iowa, offers a health care ethics and sociology degree online. Those who already possess a degree in nursing, sociology, a medical social work certificate, or an M.D. can transfer these credits and simply take the required medical ethics classes. Students can transfer up to ninety-nine credits to Ashford University from any other accredited school.

Students will pay $354.00 per credit hour. They will also pay a $990.00 technology fee, an education concentration fee of $140.00, an application fee of $55.00, and a graduation fee of $110.00. The books that students need for each class vary greatly in price, but the average is about $100.00 per class.

Online degrees in health care ethics often sit on committees in research organizations or hospitals. Sometimes they participate in committees and groups that are dedicated only to medical ethics-related questions and concerns. For example, if a new procedure is proposed for multiple sclerosis, an institutional ethics committee or a medical ethics committee will examine and analyze the procedure and the research regarding the procedures' risks and effectiveness before recommending it be used in health care.

Obtaining online degrees in health care ethics allows students more time for other responsibilities and leisure activities. It allows them to pursue other degrees and certifications at the same time without having to juggle their schedule. Students will not have to sacrifice time with work, their family and friends, hobbies, social activities, and other responsibilities.

Resources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/

Image Credits

• Bioethics Logo: US Government – Wikimedia Commons
• Books: Author Unknown – Wikimedia Commons