Pediatric Bioethics Certificate Program
The Pediatric Bioethics Certificate Program provides a broad overview of critical topics in bioethics through the lens of unique considerations related to care for, research involving, and policy considerations related to children and adolescents. Participants engage in weekly in-depth exploration of many specific questions and problems encountered in the clinical setting. It is intended both for health care professionals engaged in pediatric clinical care with a special interest in bioethics, as well as participants who have studied ethics on a more academic level but have no clinical experience and/or have developed an interest in pediatric ethics through work in another related field such as law, public policy, public health and beyond. Hospital ethics committee members (clinicians and non-clinicians), and pediatric faculty that provide ethics education for residents, fellows, and medical students, will find this course particularly relevant to their work and professional development. Core learning units include establishing a framework for ethical decision-making, addressing ethical questions associated with extreme prematurity, making end-of-life care decisions, allocating limited resources, establishing the structure and functions of hospital pediatric ethics committees, and many more.
Program details:
- Thursday mornings, 9:00 - 11:30 AM ET
- September 10, 2026 through December 10, 2026; no sessions during the ASBH Annual Conference (October 15) or on Thanksgiving (November 26)
- Weekly online sessions include weekly lectures followed by small group seminars facilitated by course faculty
- Taught primarily by faculty from Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, with invited guest faculty from other US and international institutions
- An optional in-person culminating event on December 10, 2026 in Boston, MA, including dinner on December 9, 2026 (travel and accommodation costs are not included in tuition)
- Cost: $4,750 USD
Co-sponsored by the Boston Children's Hospital Center for Pediatric Bioethics and the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. Please contact bioethics_certificate@hms.harvard.edu with any questions.
Director Emeritus, HMS Center for Bioethics
Frances Glessner Lee Distinguished Professor of Medical Ethics, Anaesthesia, and Pediatrics, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, HMS
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital
Executive Director, Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Boston Children's Hospital
Member, HMS Center for Bioethics