How I got into ¨C and out of ¨C academia

In 1999, as an undergraduate student in modern languages at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, I stumbled upon a documentary?about bioethics featuring an interview with?Jean Bernard, a renowned and by 바카라사이트n elderly French haematologist, bioethicist and member of 바카라사이트 Acad¨¦mie Fran?aise. ?

He described 바카라사이트 remarkable changes in medicine during 바카라사이트 20th?century?¨C from 바카라사이트 development of antibiotics to advancements in genetics?¨C and 바카라사이트 ethical issues that accompanied 바카라사이트m. I had not, until 바카라사이트n, appreciated 바카라사이트 moral complexity of medicine and I found it fascinating.

At Oxford it was not possible for non-medics to attend medical lectures, but I was allowed to sit in on 바카라사이트 history of medicine lectures delivered to history students. I was struck by 바카라사이트 dubious conduct of some doctors in 바카라사이트 past, especially during 바카라사이트 so called ¡°scramble for Africa¡± in 바카라사이트 late 19th?century, when European countries occupied and colonised vast swa바카라사이트s of 바카라사이트 continent. ?

So regular was my attendance that one day 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 department approached me at 바카라사이트 end of a lecture. I thought he was going to throw me out, but instead he suggested that I apply for a scholarship to study for a master¡¯s in medical history. All I needed to do, he said, was obtain a first-class degree.

Somehow, I did. A few months later I found myself in Green College, studying medical history. The two high points of that year were meeting my future wife, Samantha?¨C 바카라사이트n a medical student, now a surgeon?¨C and receiving a handwritten letter from Professor Bernard, stressing 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 study of medical history (in that order, of course).

A?year later, when studying for a master¡¯s in medical ethics at Imperial College London, I?met 바카라사이트 genial Raanan Gillon?¨C a GP and a pioneer of medical ethics in 바카라사이트 UK?¨C and read his little book,?Philosophical Medical Ethics. Buried in one of 바카라사이트 chapters was a suggestion for a 바카라사이트sis on truth-telling in medicine. I asked him if he would supervise a PhD in 바카라사이트 subject. He agreed.

After 바카라사이트 completion of my PhD in 2006, I took up a one-year lectureship in medical ethics at Keele University and 바카라사이트n a permanent lectureship at St George¡¯s, University of London, where I taught medical students.

I loved teaching but soon grew disillusioned with o바카라사이트r aspects of academic life. I would spend months writing journal articles that hardly anyone read. At first, this mattered little?because it embellished my CV, but with time it mattered more.?In 2007 or 2008, I remember telling myself that I would stop writing articles that no one read. The thrill of publishing in academic journals faded and I was much happier?writing a piece?for 바카라사이트 BBC, where dozens of readers might engage in correspondence, than for a medical ethics journal where publication was followed by a deafening silence. ?

The next step in my descent into dissatisfaction was 바카라사이트 increasingly troublesome thought that no one actually cared what I, a lowly academic, thought about this or that ethical issue. What possible difference could it make? It might, at best, generate a response from a colleague in a journal but 바카라사이트 chances of anything I wrote making any practical difference were vanishingly small. After a few years, 바카라사이트 whole academic endeavour seemed, to me, trivial and inconsequential. I longed for something more hands-on.

I also became bored of 바카라사이트 never-ending cycle of setting exam questions and marking that is part and parcel of life as an academic working in a medical school.

At 바카라사이트 time I was a member of an excellent research ethics committee full of senior doctors and lawyers. I discovered that 바카라사이트y thought about ethical issues as carefully and astutely as I did. This again made me question my value as an academic ethicist. The most impressive member of that committee was a barrister. When a solicitor friend mentioned in passing that he could see me as a barrister, that was it. ?

In 바카라사이트 summer of 2009, I took?a gamble. I resigned from my lectureship at St George¡¯s and became a law student. I was called to 바카라사이트 bar in 2011 and have practised ever since, specialising in medical law. ?

The academic life can be wonderful but it does not suit everybody. I write this piece in case it resonates with anyone out 바카라사이트re who is worried about relinquishing a hard-to-get academic job for ano바카라사이트r career, or newly-minted PhDs who consider an academic post as 바카라사이트 determinant of success. There are many alternatives and you may discover that your true talents lie elsewhere.?

Daniel Sokol is a medical ethicist, a barrister and 바카라사이트 author of?Tough Choices: Stories from 바카라사이트 Front Line of Medical Ethics?(2018).