Bioethics Coursework

Following my interest in bioethics from my first two quarters at UW, I decided to take a Bioethics course during Spring quarter of my freshman year. I enrolled in Bioethics 311 expecting to know no one, but on day 1, I found several friends from previous courses and also made new friends very quickly! The Professor, Dr. Tim Brown, was one of my favorite professors at UW. He was so real, honest, and funny. I always appreciated the pictures of his cats. I expected to discuss tricky patient cases and how to best respond. However, once in the class, I learned the important long history of abuse by the medical system in the US. This abuse was often against marginalized groups such as disabled people, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. The fact that I could go on to medical school without this information was shocking to me. While in the course, we discussed Ashley X, Carrie Buck, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and Madrigal v. Quilligan. I was shocked at how much history had been hidden. I remember thinking, “Of course there is great distrust in our medical system, look what they used to do!” The very system designed to heal and help was discriminating and hurting communities. 

 

These courses taught me the importance of listening to patients and acknowledging the broken system of US healthcare. I feel more prepared to become a physician, hoping to use this knowledge to advocate for my future patients.

I went to elementary school in rural Nebraska, and I often attribute my lack of knowledge to the patriotic Nebraska education system, which depicted figures such as Columbus and Jefferson as heroes while ignoring the horrific experiences of marginalized people in America. However, this was the first time my lack of knowledge was unrelated to my upbringing; there are efforts in every state to limit the truths of medical abuse from becoming public knowledge. We are taught to take pride in our medical system and research, ignoring the ugly reality that university hospitals were some of the first places to use the incarcerated, disabled, queer, and BIPOC as test subjects for, now deemed, unethical research. I am so glad I enrolled in BH311 my freshman year, and am even prouder to be graduating with the bioethics minor. I included my reflections from BH 311, which asked us to think through our opinions on course topics. These courses taught me the importance of listening to patients and acknowledging the broken system of US healthcare. I feel more prepared to become a physician, hoping to use this knowledge to advocate for my future patients.