For the last month, I have worked full-time on my project “Unexpected Heterogeneity In Reporting Bioethical Issues Arising From Advances in Chimera Research From Online News Sources.” I am creating a poster to present at both the Johns Hopkins Summer Internship Program Poster Symposium on July 27th and the NIH Diversity Workshop and Poster Symposium August 30th-31st. I have met over 20 bioethicists, 20 researchers, and 10 physicians in the last month. I have also met multiple doctoral students, furthering my understanding of the career path I am pursuing.
This experience made me realize how established the bioethics field is, as well as how interdisciplinary it is. It is made up of philosophers, physicians, researchers, sociologists, authors, etc. I even got to shadow two Institutional Review Boards and observe the process of approving or denying a research project. This was incredibly helpful for my future career as a bioethicist and clinical ethics consultant, where I could potentially be writing grants and reviewing these proposals.
My experience in GSMP has only solidified my career aspirations. I am very grateful to have had this experience and network with so many established professionals. I feel more confident with my decision of declaring philosophy as my major and that I have a chance at having an occupation in the clinical setting. This program made me realize that clinical ethics is important and people need to be advocated for when they can’t do it themselves.
I met with Dr. Holly Taylor, a research bioethicist at the National Institute of Health. We spoke about the post-bacc position in Bioethics at the NIH. The opportunity would allow me to clinically consult for two years in both hospitals and research ethics consultations. Without the Boog Internship Fund, I would not have had the opportunity to network with Dr. Taylor and the faculty at Johns Hopkins to learn about this amazing program, which I will absolutely be applying to. As I continue GSMP through the academic year, I am very excited to learn about the various career paths in both medicine and academia.
