U. to offer Law School, Bioethics dual-degree program next year

Beginning next year, some Law School students will be able to earn two degrees for the price of one. The Law School and Penn's Bioethics program have announced a joint endeavor in which students interested in health care law can earn a master's degree in bioethics and a law degree within the same three-year period that it normally takes just to earn a law degree. The dual-degree program -- which allows students to learn about "the ethical, moral and legal issues that many lawyers have to confront" -- will begin this fall, said Law Professor Michael Fitts, the school's associate dean of academic affairs. The program, which will cover areas such as organ transplants, health care delivery, gene therapy, abortion and cloning is "intended for people who think they are going to practice law in the health care setting," he said. Because health care is such a diverse and large field within the U.S. economy, "a lot of issues that come up in the law relate to bioethics," Fitts said. "Health care law is an important and expanding field," said David Magnus, the director of graduate students for the Bioethics program. The two-year-old Bioethics program, which is a College of General Studies initiative run out of the School of Arts and Sciences, is the largest bioethics program in the country, involving about 20 students, Magnus said. The program is offered in association with the University's Center for Bioethics, directed by Arthur Caplan, one of the country's foremost experts on bioethical issues. The Bioethics program already has dual-degree programs with several schools, including the Medical School. Officials also hope to start a formal program with the Nursing School, Magnus said. He stressed that some students choosing to pursue bioethics will find a law degree to be "the other credential they are going to need," while Law students pursuing health care law will find a master's degree in Bioethics "very useful." Although students enrolled in the program will encounter a rigorous curriculum with several extra courses, many classes will count toward both degrees, Fitts said. The course load will vary based on what field of law the student studies. Stressing the overlap between legal and bioethical issues, Fitts said the program will try to bring together many of the leading health care faculty members at the University. Fitts said this program reflects the Law School's philosophy of allowing students to explore subjects taught in other schools that relate to issues they will encounter once they graduate. Law students are allowed to count up to four courses taken in other schools toward their degree. "A well-educated lawyer understands law and other subjects," he said. Applicants must be admitted to both the Law School and the Bioethics program in order to participate in the dual-degree program, although the admissions process is somewhat coordinated, Fitts explained. Fitts did not know the number of students who will be admitted to the program.

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