Medical Ethics and Health Policy Education

The Medical Ethics Pathway is for medical students seeking to develop greater knowledge and expertise in medical ethics.

The Health Policy Pathway  teaches students in an immersive, experiential way how to apply policy concepts to current problems and questions in their healthcare environment. 

The Ethics Thread (ET) is how Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) medical students are taught essential medical ethics topics during their undergraduate medical education. 

The ET is a new concept started during the 2023-2024 academic year. Its goal is to flow seamlessly with the students’ other educational topics, not to be a distinct “ethics course”. The ET weaves ethical concepts into all the other education medical students receive. This mirrors medical practice where ethical concepts cannot be simply isolated, they must be discussed within the broader framework of practicing medicine.

Learn more about the Foundational Sciences Curriculum

Learn more about Clinical Ethics

Learn more about Medical Ethics Pathway

The EnMed Program is a collaboration with Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas A&M University. The EnMed program was developed to include class sessions in humanities, ethics, altruism, and leadership in its Practice of Medicine (PoM) courses. The courses include topics such as Surrogate Decision Making, Informed Consent, Palliative Care, Maternal-Fetal Ethics, Diversity and Race, and more. Students have 2 opportunities to select from approximately 6-8 small group seminars offered by BCM Medical Ethics & Health Policy faculty that allow students to apply analytical skills to specific topic areas including topical ethical issues (psychiatry, organ donation, decisional AI) and other areas in medical humanities. Course Directors: Janet Malek, Ph.D., Mary Majumder, J.D., Ph.D., and Joanna Smolenski, Ph.D.

Learn more about EnMed

See recent article highlighting ethics as part of EnMed

The Ethics, Professionalism and Policy Program, or EP3, is an innovative multi-modal education program developed by the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy to help residents achieve the standards of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Next Accreditation System (NAS). 

This competitive two-year fellowship offers the opportunity to train with the center’s nationally renowned faculty and staff who lead premier Clinical Ethics Consultation Services at adult, private hospital systems in the Texas Medical Center.

Our Grand Rounds are held virtually in partnership with Baylor's Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston Methodist and Texas Children's Hospital for healthcare professionals, but are open to anyone interested in attending.

We are excited to offer up-to-date education and training virtually. Our faculty and collaborators research, teach and consult on ethics and policy topics across the Texas Medical Center. 

The Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy partners with Houston Methodist to offer the five-day virtual Intensive Bioethics Course in the Texas Medical Center. The course is productive, engaging, and covers fundamental bioethics topics and advanced clinical ethics skills.

This program is designed to provide students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the fast-paced field of clinical ethics.