The Spring 2025 issue of SMPH Quarterly highlights the Paths of Distinction (PoDs), a series of optional learning tracks that allow medical students to pursue deeper engagement in areas beyond the standard curriculum. Among the five PoDs at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the Bioethics Path of Distinction, housed in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics, receives special focus in this feature.
Co-directed by Drs. Karola Kreitmair and Paul Kelleher, the Bioethics PoD offers medical students a unique opportunity to explore the ethical dimensions of medicine and public health — from end-of-life decisions to the responsible use of AI in clinical care. As Dr. Kreitmair notes in the article, “By joining a PoD, students have the chance to venture beyond the ‘doctoring’ curriculum and learn about other holistic aspects of a medical career.”
The article also features Dr. Bethany Erb, who recently completed both the Bioethics and Research PoDs. Dr. Erb reflects powerfully on how her bioethics training has helped her navigate ethically complex clinical situations, stating, “Sometimes medicine is the art of being brave enough to throw away the script… and instead confronting whether the problem should be ‘fixed’ in the first place.”
This recognition underscores the integral role of bioethics in shaping compassionate, thoughtful, and ethically grounded physicians — a key mission of the Medical History and Bioethics department at SMPH.
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Read the full article at: https://bit.ly/4j6Ka2g