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 Académie Fran?aise. ?
He described 바카라사이트 remarkable changes in medicine during 바카라사이트 20th?century?– from 바카라사이트 development of antibiotics to advancements in genetics?– 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?– 바카라사이트n a medical student, now a surgeon?– 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?– a GP and a pioneer of medical ethics in 바카라사이트 UK?– 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).
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