In just the first six months of her career as a child life specialist, Dr. Korie Leigh witnessed “an overwhelming number” of pediatric deaths. That experience led to her enrolling in a master’s degree program in thanatology. She wanted to learn the skills to provide comprehensive support to children and their families.
“I remember one week specifically, where ten children died in the ICU,” Dr. Leigh said in a recent interview, looking back almost two decades to the beginning of her career. “While I felt prepared to meet the psychosocial needs of hospitalized children, I did not feel adequately prepared to meet the unique and complex needs of grieving families.”
Thanatology is a scientific discipline that examines death from many perspectives, including physical, ethical, spiritual, medical, sociological, and psychological. Earning her graduate degree in the field prepared Dr. Leigh to meet the needs of those facing the end of life and the grieving loved ones they leave behind.
Leading the Marian University Thanatology Department
Dr. Leigh now helps others develop the expertise that changed her career. She is an Associate Professor and Program Director for the Thanatology Department at Marian University. The program includes a Master of Science in Thanatology degree and a Certificate in Thanatology.
She has ambitious plans for the program, which she said provides graduate students the knowledge and skills needed to provide the best possible support in this challenging field.
“Our course work and program provide the foundational intersection of theory and practice for those wishing to be an applied practitioner. Our professors are experts in the field of study they teach, often bridging the gap between academic theory and clinical practice,” Dr. Leigh said. “We offer a comprehensive program, all the while fostering a sense of community with students from all around the globe.”
Marian University offers the thanatology programs 100% online. However, students become connected in the program, forming study pods in the first course and creating a community of learners who meet throughout the course. Each course also offers synchronous meetings and monthly drop-in meetings that allow students to connect.
“It’s a fantastic way for new students to meet seasoned ones,” Dr. Leigh said.
Experience in Thanatology, Palliative, and Hospice Care
Dr. Leigh, CCLS, CT, holds a doctorate in psychology, a master’s degree in public health and thanatology, and a bachelor’s degree in child development and life. She is a practicing, certified thanatologist and certified child life specialist. Dr. Leigh has spent more than 17 years working in pediatric palliative and hospice care, providing psychosocial and grief support to children and their families.
In her private practice, Dr. Leigh works with children and their families and serves on the board of directors for Hero’s Path, a pediatric palliative care organization in New Mexico. She is an applied practitioner in thanatology, teaching, conducting research, and clinically practicing with people and communities.
Dr. Leigh’s first book, “What Does Grief Feel Like?,” is scheduled for publication in January 2023 by Free Spirit Press. She authored the book to help young children navigate and understand the experience of grief.
Why Earn a Degree in Thanatology?
Many who work in healthcare become interested in earning a graduate degree or certificate in thanatology. Dr. Leigh said common occupations for thanatology students include hospice, palliative care, or social work. By earning a degree in thanatology, healthcare professionals can expand their current careers, opening doors to new career paths.
The Marian University programs strengthen the skills of working with patients at the end of their life and with their families struggling with grief and loss.
“For students who want to enter a thanatology-related career, our programs provide the foundational skill set to prepare them for work in end-of-life, palliative, or other thanatology-related fields,” Dr. Leigh said.
Why Choose Marian University?
Marian University’s commitment to social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion is why Dr. Leigh came to the school. She also said that throughout her career, “I find that my best work happens in organizations that are smaller, more grassroots, and where there is ample opportunity for collaboration.”
Dr. Leigh is now building on those positives about Marian University in exploring changes for the thanatology program. Those changes include making it possible for students to finish the program faster (two years or less) and choose a concentration within thanatology. A more diverse faculty will teach courses in a way that “represents where the field of thanatology is headed,” she said.
Potential concentrations in the program include focusing on children and their families with an emphasis on perinatal and pediatric palliative care, as well as social justice with a focus on issues such as LGBTQIA and racial justice in end-of-life. Other concentrations may focus on death workers and practices such as death doulas, green burial practices, and transpersonal topics like near-death experiences, entheogenic work, and mystical experiences.
“The current study of thanatology must offer a historical perspective while helping students apply theories and practices to present-day issues and combating the realities of climate change, inequity, and radical death studies movements. Our program meets those unique needs and seeks to be the change agent of thanatology studies,” observed Dr. Leigh.
Marian University’s degree and certificate programs meet the coursework requirements of the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) for graduates to sit for the exam to become Certified in Thanatology: Death, Dying and Bereavement.
