A Preview of the Bioethics Project

The Bioethics Project is off to an exciting start! Our two-week June summer intensive provided students with a fascinating introduction to the field of bioethics. Through lively discussions, they explored profound questions about the value and meaning of life, our responsibilities to ourselves and to others, and the ways in which law, medicine, religion, ethics, and public policy intersect to shape ethical decision-making.

As part of their learning journey, students:

• Examined landmark legal cases that have shaped bioethical discourse.
• Visited Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders and houses of worship to understand diverse religious perspectives on medical ethics.
• Met with healthcare professionals at Overlook Medical Center to discuss the role of ethics in clinical practice.
• Participated in a public health crisis simulation, making tough decisions about allocating scarce resources.

When the school year began, the students researched key moments in the history of bioethics and public health, which is this year’s overarching theme. Public health, broadly defined, is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities. It encompasses promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing disease and injury, and responding to health threats at both local and global levels.

From September through December, our classes are dedicated primarily to speaker-led education. By winter break, students will have engaged with almost two dozen experts, among them:

• Public health officials at the local, regional, and state levels
• Professors from leading universities and medical schools
• Medical and allied health professionals from top healthcare systems
• Religious leaders and representatives from nonprofit and patient-advocacy organizations

Some of the many topics they’ll explore are:

• How faith and spirituality shape medical decision-making
• The relationship among wealth, longevity, and human flourishing
• The health impacts of ultra-processed foods
• Regulation of nicotine-containing products
• Evolving approaches to treating substance-use disorders
• Addressing lead contamination in water supplies
• Ethical allocation of organs and tissues for transplant
• Preventing discrimination based on body size or genetic conditions

Students will also attend the Atlantic Health System Research Day Symposium, at Morristown Medical Center, where clinical staff will present cutting-edge research and innovations in medical science and technology.

The goals of the fall trimester are to deepen students’ understanding of bioethics and public health and to inspire them to identify ethical dilemmas they’ll research and write about, with guidance from mentors at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Their work will culminate in presentations at the Bioethics Symposium this spring.

Stay tuned for updates as the year unfolds!

A lawyer by background and the current healthcare ethicist at Overlook Medical Center, Lisa Goldman, the Ethics Institute’s Bioethicist in Residence, is an instructor for the Bioethics course and coaches the Kent Place Ethics Bowl teams.