Educational opportunities: Thus far, the field of bioethics has been multidisciplinary. This diversity in training has been an asset, providing a rich set of experiences and tools that can be brought to bear to confront ethical challenges. This diversity is also reflected in the multitude of offerings for those seeking training. Programs and offerings range from undergraduate to Masters and terminal degree programs and also to various internships and fellowships. In many cases, bioethics training is combined with a variety of relevant terminal degrees (PhD, MD, JD). Those seeking to advance their training in bioethics should consider which of the many alternative paths fits best with their backgrounds, skills and interests.
Careers in bioethics: Opportunities for those interested in pursuing a career related to bioethics are expanding. These are examples of the sorts of opportunities available:
1) Academic bioethics: A wide variety of career opportunities engaging in teaching and generating new scholarship on policy and ethics issues within the purview of bioethics are becoming available within academically based bioethics institutes/centers (link to list of bioethics institutes/centers). Similar work is conducted and, career opportunities are becoming available within independent organizations such as the Hastings Center (www.thehastingscenter.org/default.asp) or the American Medical Association (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2558.html). In addition, there are both liberal/conservative bioethics think tanks such as The Center for American progress (www.americanprogress.org/projects/bioethics); and The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (www.cbhd.org/index.html).
2) Research ethics: IRB/ESCRO/IACUC staff/ committee members. Numerous career opportunities are created by the need for various committees to review research proposals and ensure the ethical conduct of scientific/biomedical research.
3) Clinical Ethics: Hospital-based clinical ethicist/consultant/Hospital ethics committees. Hospital ethics committee members are typically not paid for their service. However, some few hospitals do employ consultants to serve as clinical ethicists, hearing cases with conflicts or ethically-challenging dimensions.
4) Be Creative: The expansion of careers in bioethics is a relatively new phenomenon – don’t be afraid to be creative in encouraging the integration of bioethics into existing career paths. Some obvious examples: cell biologist-bioethicist, NICU nurse-bioethicist, historian-bioethicist, hospital administrator-bioethicist. Careers offer significant exposure to the sorts of challenging issues that define bioethics can also bring novel and useful tools and experiences that can be added to the problem-solving armamentarium.
Links to more general info about bioethics careers:
