Why Do We Need Bioethics?
Whenever someone asks what my minors are, I often stun them by saying ‘I have three”. Furthermore, I scare them even more by saying one of my minors involves bioethics. Most people stare at me, point black, with confused eyes. While bioethics can seem like an intellectual topic, it is not as daunting as one may think. Rather, bioethics is the study of ethical, social, and legal issues which arise in health care. More importantly, bioethics seeks to examine the research and medical side of medicine, with a focus on how physicians interact with patients,
As bioethicists seek to examine how biological life and ethics are intertwined, our health and well-being lie at the center of it. With medicine becoming revolutionized, bioethicists must analyze the ethical principles behind how healthcare providers interact with us as patients to receive the best care possible. In doing so, bioethicists are the bridge between physicians and patients.
Calling on All New Bioethicists
Yes, you there!
If you’ve navigated to this website, you have a strong desire to become a bioethicist! Because bioethics is interdisciplinary in nature, there are multiple sub-discourse communities such as philosophy, medicine, biology, and law which exist in the discipline. To become a bioethicist, you do not need to be the leading expert in all these fields. Maybe your love for law draws you into malpractice cases or your interest in biology entices you into stem cell research in medicine. Either way, your passion for any sub-discourse community in bioethics is sufficient for you to start learning bioethics.
You might be asking at this point, ‘what do I need to have in order to become a bioethicist?’ From my experience as a novice bioethic writer, I would say you need the following: a passion for an aspect of bioethics, helping others, and an ability to think critically. These set of characteristics or skills will help you to start diving into the discipline. To best assimilate into this discourse community, I suggest learning how to write a case study article like a bioethicist.