Centre for Ethics

About the Centre For Ethics

Established in April 2011, the Centre for Ethics at Yenepoya University will foster a renaissance movement in the field of ethics thereby leading to a paradigm shift in the approach of the various stakeholders towards ethics in health care and research and enrich the curriculum of other academic fields.

The Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya University will, through a process of change management and collaborative leadership, bring bioethics into the mainstream of all health care academics, clinical and research applications.  

To inculcate in all professionals a sense of ethical responsibility towards their job, family and society thereby making them better citizens, in a global sense.

The Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya deemed to be University will

• Promote ethical concepts among the various stakeholders in the University, and foster a sense of ethical practices that will enhance the quality of health care.
• Train interested individuals in the fields of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Health Care Ethics, Clinical Ethics, Research Ethics and other interdisciplinary areas, empowering them with skills necessary for resolving ethical problems.
• Give support to clinical staff in the form of clinical ethics consultation
• Encourage trans-cultural explorations of ethical practices and will assist the stakeholders in accepting every view point, however digressive.
• Provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue in ethics and thereby promote the national values of professional and ethical leadership.
• Explore the possibilities of conducting research in different fields of ethics and encouraging collaborative research.
• Seek out similar centres/departments and enter into partnerships with them for a broader interaction and cooperation

This is a full-time, semester-based two-year course culminating in the award of Master's degree in Research Ethics. This is a unique course, being offered for the first time in India.  This stipendiary program is supported by an educational research grant by Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA. The main objective of the course is to prepare the candidates for recognizing and addressing ethical issues in research involving human participants. The faculty members include renowned international and national bioethicists.  

Postgraduate Diploma in Bioethics & Medical Ethics (PGDBEME) is a one-year contact program based academic course that is reinforced by field visits and mock reviews.  This program begins every January and covers all the areas of bioethics such as morality, theories of ethics, duty-based ethics, research ethics and clinical ethics.

The six-month long Certificate Course in Clinical Ethics Consultation (CCCEC), being conducted since 2011 November, jointly by the Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya University and the Department of Philosophy, Ethics and History of Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany, has been upgraded to a one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Ethics.  Dr. Norbert W Paul, Professor and Director of the Department of History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany,  is the visiting Professor  at the Centre for Ethics .   The course is open to all students with a Master’s in any disciplines relating to Health, Law, Philosophy, Religion, Ethics and Humanities and Bachelor’s of the same back ground with three years of clinical experience.   Clinical ethics is covered in depth and the participant will be trained to run a clinical ethics consultation in his/her institution, besides getting a grounding in basic bioethics.

The main focus of the Intensive Summer Workshop on Ethics and Research (I-SWEAR) is to empower participants who are presently engaged in research or are serving on institutional ethics committees or are likely to serve in the coming years – to give them the knowledge and tools to recognize and deal with various ethical issues arising out of research being done on human subjects.  The course also trains participants in Good Clinical Practice along the guidelines laid down in the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH-GCP). 

This five-day Intensive Summer Workshop on Ethics and Research (I-SWEAR) program is being conducted for 5 days, spread over 20 sessions in the month of May every year.  Topics covered are relevant to the present day scenario of biomedical research in India, and structured using revised guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research on ethical issues in biomedical research, Schedule Y of Drugs and Cosmetics Act (including recent amendments and Supreme Court decisions), ICH-GCP guidelines and other relevant national and international regulations.  

The Centre for Ethics and Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) realize the need for increasing awareness among health care professionals about the urgent and pressing need for restoring ecological and environmental balance.   To this end we offer elective course on environmental ethics, a total of ten hour five classes for 5 Fridays, for the undergraduate students of Yenepoya (Deemed to be University).

Centre for Ethics and Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) realize the need for increasing awareness among undergraduate students about the central and critical role of bioethics in the discharge of professional duties and responsibilities.   To this end we offer, elective course on bioethics, a total of 12 hour classes on every alternate Fridays for the undergraduate students of Yenepoya (Deemed to be University).

Following the basic training during the BPT curriculum,  the Centre for Ethics engages Interns in interactive and self developing case scenarios in the area of applied Bioethics (six two - hour sessions)

The Centre for Ethics engages these students as per Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) Physiotherapy curriculum, for 20 hours of basic bioethics.

Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) Centre for Ethics is now a member of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI).   CFE is one among the 1000 colleges and universities in  some 120 countries who are working with the United Nations   to  promote global   priorities, including peace, human rights and sustainable development.