In line with the University's vision, the Bioethics Group of Aga Khan University initiated a Master in Bioethics degree in 2008 sponsored through a training grant from the Fogarty International Center, U.S National Institutes of Health. This grant covers the expenses of 20 students – eight students from Karachi, eight from the rest of Pakistan and four from resource-poor countries covered by the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO).
Graduates of the programme are expected to play a leading role in the field of bioethics through their contribution in research and clinical ethics, bioethics education and health policy analysis.
Objectives of the Programme The main objective of the programme is to develop expertise in bioethics in Pakistan and in resource-poor countries covered by EMRO, which includes countries listed below:
Afghanistan
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Lebanon
Palestine
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Yemen
After completing the programme, it is expected that graduates would be able to:
Relate philosophical underpinning of ethical discourses from Muslim and Western approaches to moral philosophies;
Identify and recommend solutions for ethical dilemmas in research involving human participants;
Identify and provide solutions to ethical dilemmas encountered in clinical practice;
Establish and become a resource for research ethics and clinical ethics review committees in their own institutions;
Develop a bioethics curriculum and teach bioethics at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels;
Analyse health-related policies in line with an ethical framework;
Analyse the ethical issues in clinical and research settings from a human rights perspective;
Conduct research on bioethics.
Employment Opportunities for Graduates
The employment opportunities for graduates would be in medical, nursing or allied health academic institutions, tertiary care hospital and research organisations.
