Contact: Julie Kelley, Assistant to Father Tad Pacholczyk, 215-877-2660

PHILADELPHIA, June 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- A key aspect of The National Catholic Bioethics Center's mission is to provide educational programs for those who work in Catholic health care or research, as well as other interested individuals, to ensure that the Catholic health care ministry is staffed with individuals well equipped to apply the Church's moral tradition in contemporary health care settings.

The following educational events have been scheduled for 2007-2008:

Seminars

In 2007-2008 the NCBC will offer a series of one and two day seminars in cities across the country on "The Catholic Tradition in Health Care Ethics." At the heart of these programs is the application of the "Ethical and Religious Directives for Health Care Services" of the United States Bishops to complex contemporary ethical dilemmas. Participants may choose to attend seminars in Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, St. Paul, or San Francisco. See the NCBC website for details of the events.

Certification Program

In 2005 The National Catholic Bioethics Center began offering a year-long, distance-learning program called "The National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics." This program is designed for busy professionals who serve as health care workers, on ethics committees or as chaplains in Catholic hospitals. Others who are interested in a deeper understanding of the Church's ethical tradition have also found the program beneficial. Attendance at one of the two-day seminars in the fall begins the program which then progresses through a series of learning modules which are managed online. The program concludes with a case studies seminar in Philadelphia in the spring of 2008.

Continuing education credits are offered for some of these programs to doctors, nurses and chaplains through various accrediting agencies. See http://www.ncbcenter.org for details.

Those interested in furthering their knowledge of the Roman Catholic ethical tradition in the health care ministry through these programs are encouraged to visit the NCBC website or contact Julie Kelley, Administrative Assistant to Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. at 215-877-2660.

The NCBC was founded in 1972 to provide expert moral analysis and philosophical reflection to developments medicine and the life sciences.