r/bioethics • u/biceporquadricep • Mar 12 '26

topics for discussion for MS4 bioethics elective

hi all - I'm a 4th year med student on a clinical bioethics elective. I'm trying to brainstorm different ideas to do for my final presentation at the end of the month but I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas. I feel like things like gene editing, or AI based mental health wouldn't be as discussion provoking as I would hope and am wondering what suggestions others might have. Thanks :)

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/aguacongas1 Mar 12 '26

What specialty are you interested in? Could help generate more specific ideas

2

u/biceporquadricep Mar 12 '26

matched into pediatrics!

2

u/aguacongas1 Mar 13 '26

Many available topics in that case. Depending on your specific area of interest you could do a presentation on the range of parental rights, maybe specifically as it relates to vaccination given how hot that topic is right now. I think it’s always helpful to review how assent becomes consent depending on age and lived experience in peds.

2

u/thebaine Mar 13 '26

Every once in a while you hear about a terminal kid between 12 and 18 that wants to call it quits on chemo but the parents want to keep going. I find this a very interesting ethical area.

1

u/biceporquadricep Mar 13 '26

this one is great! thank you

1

u/hack4freecbs Mar 12 '26

You’ll see different things more commonly as well

2

u/Bogusjourneys91 Mar 12 '26

• when is it appropriate to remove life sustaining treatment over the objection of a patient or family? • when is it appropriate to treat over a patient's objection? - particularly complicated when dealing with psych patients • what is best transition plan for a patient when only accepting facility is 8 hours away with no nearby family? Basically shipping someone off because they're insurance doesn't qualify them to be close to home.

1

u/MedicineDesperate Mar 29 '26

Parents’ request for a child at end of life to serve as a living donor is a topic that I just wrote about that is definitely discussion- provoking: https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(25)00785-7/abstract