Education Overview

The Center serves clergy, religious, and laity—especially those working in health care professions and the biosciences—as they face daily ethical challenges in research and the care and treatment of patients.

Education has been an integral part of the Center since its inception in 1972, from planning and coordinating many years of international bishops’ workshops on bioethics for bishops of North and Central America to serving as teachers in seminary and university settings, and through internship and independent study programs for students.

One-day workshops are offered on topics such as the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and end-of-life issues. Several times a year we offer annual seminars for health care professionals. Since 2005 the NCBC has been offering a National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics for health care professionals, members of ethics committees, and others interested pursuing advanced understanding of the application of the Ethical and Religious Directives.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center considers authentic Catholic education to be at the very heart of its mission. Speakers from the Center are available on a variety of today’s major medical and ethical issues to both parish, professional groups, colleges, and universities. For more information or to plan for having a speaker visit, please contact us. We also are available to provide commentary on breaking news stories to major media outlets.

Physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, and other health care professionals may be interested in NCBC’s membership program, which offers a rich array of products and services. NCBC also offers resources for hospital chaplains and pastoral care ministers. The Center seeks to reach those who influence law and public policy, in light of the convergence of civil law and scientific advancement.

About our Director of Education

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Joe Zalot, PhD
Joe Zalot, PhD

Jozef Zalot joined The National Catholic Bioethics Center as a staff ethicist in July 2017. He served from 2015 to 2017 as the regional director of ethics and spiritual care for Mercy Health–Cincinnati and also served as a lecturer at the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, where he taught courses in medical ethics and morality and justice in Catholic life. From 2004 to 2015, Dr. Zalot was a tenured professor at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, where he taught courses in health care ethics, business ethics, sexual and reproductive ethics, introduction to Catholic theology, and marriage. He has written two books and various articles and reviews, and he presents at academic conferences both domestically and internationally.