Bioethics as a Career

With advances in biology, medicine, and scientific research, our lives become more complex and interconnected. Now that technology plays an increasing role in decisions we make about our health and well-being, the interdisciplinary field of bioethics has emerged to frame important discussions regarding behavior and values. As a bioethicist, you are in a position to pose questions that address how these fields relate to philosophy, law, theology, biotechnology, politics, and the life sciences. You may be involved in the regulatory review of research, particularly through institutional review boards (IRBs) at hospitals and other research institutions, and you may provide critical assistance before a research program begins, when it is important to consider the potential social, economic, and ethical impact of the proposed activities.

You may be like many interested in bioethics who come to the field from other disciplines, including medicine, nursing, public health, medical social work, law, biology, philosophy, religious studies, politics, anthropology, or various academic areas. You can pursue master's or doctoral-level education in bioethics to enhance your professional career or to satisfy personal interests. John D. Arras of the University of Virginia suggests three pathways to careers in bioethics: 1) health and health care, 2) law, and 3) academics. To be taken seriously on the subject of bioethics in a health care setting, it is generally useful for you to be a medical professional. When you are also trained in ethics, health care institutions gain access your clinical skills as well as your advice on cases and policies.

Arras suggests these ethics-related careers in health care:

• Working as an ethically informed health professional in a hospital [or] nursing home..., serving on or staffing an institutional ethics committee (IEC), institutional review board (IRB), helping draft hospital policies, consulting on individual cases
• Teaching and scholarly work in bioethics in a medical or nursing school
• Health policy for various medical organizations (AMA, ANA), non-governmental agencies (NGOs), and government departments (e.g., FDA, CDC, NIH, Veterans Affairs)
• Work in public health and ethics
• Health care administration
• Genetic counseling
• Hospital chaplaincy

In addition to teaching about bioethics in academic institutions, Arras identifies these bioethics careers related to the law:

• Practicing bioethics-related law
• Consulting on bioethics in hospitals
• Performing legal and health policy work for medical school bioethics centers, NGOs, medical societies, government agencies, and international organizations
• Teaching law and bioethics

Several bioethics-related professional associations, including the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH), post resources online.

Sources: American Society for Bioethics + Humanities; US Bureau of Labor Occupational Outlook Quarterly; National Institutes of Health; nature.com; wikipedia.com

MWU Bioethics Program in Glendale, Arizona