IAB2016 Reflections: Emilia Niemiec

By Emilia Niemic

The session ‘Trends in Bioethics’ was one that I enjoyed most. Dr Tenzin Wangmo presented research revealing that the number of articles presenting empirical research in bioethics journals has been increasing in recent years. The following talk given by Dr Jonathan Ives outlined the problems relating to combining empirical and normative analysis of empirical research in bioethics. I find these issues important to recognize, investigate and discuss, especially as some empirical research may have implications relevant to policy-making.

IAB2016 Reflections: Dunja Begović

By Dunja Begović

Part of a series of blog posts from the IAB 2016 Mason Institute Scholarship Winners.

Trying to answer what I enjoyed most about attending IAB 2016 in Edinburgh, I realised it would be difficult to single out any particular talk or session. So many themes were covered by participants from various countries and professional fields during the three days, that I can only regret not having the chance to hear more. Therefore I would like to focus on an aspect of the conference that was most significant to me personally, as a student currently between finishing a Master’s degree and beginning a PhD: the sessions and presentations aimed at early career researchers.

IAB2016 Reflections: Sarah McNeill

By Sarah McNeill

Part of a series of blog posts from the IAB 2016 Mason Institute Scholarship Winners.

Is my brand more ‘Life Water’ or ‘Highland Springs’? Should I spend more time networking or publishing? What makes a great presentation? Do I say ‘yes’ to all things or better that I close the door on some opportunities in order to do well at those things already on my plate? These questions and more were contemplated during the series of Early Career Researcher events at IAB2016.

Global Health Inequalities and the 'Brain Drain'

Guest post by Gillian Brock and Michael Blake

Originally published at OUPBlog and re-posted with permission here. Gillian Brock will be a Keynote Speaker at the 13th World Congress of the International Association of Bioethics in June 2016, which the Mason Institute is helping to organise.

There are massive inequalities in global health opportunities and outcomes. Consider, for instance, that Japan has around twenty-one physicians per 10,000 people, while Malawi has only one physician for every 50,000 people. This radical inequality in medical skills and talents has, obviously, bad consequences for health; people born in Malawi will live, on average, 32 years fewer than their counterparts born in Japan. These facts are troubling in themselves. They become even more troubling, though, when we start asking why nations like Malawi have so few physicians. The answer, it seems, is not that the citizens of developing countries have no interest in becoming physicians, or a lack of opportunity for medical training; in many cases, developing societies spend a great deal of money training new physicians, and spots in medical school are avidly sought. The reason for the low numbers of physicians, instead, has much to do with what medical training provides: namely, the opportunity to leave the developing society, and enter into a more developed one.