Last Friday over forty senior school students had the pleasure of listening to Professor Michael Heinrich deliver a virtual talk on dealing with ethical dilemmas in medicine and research. Abigail Cheong (Lower 6) chaired the session and writes about it here.
Professor Heinrich is a professor of Ethnopharmacology and Pharmacognosy at University College London and has immense experience in ethics and research. He gave us an introduction into Ethnopharmacology and his research. Professor Heinrich discussed the progression of medical ethics starting from 5th century BCE – Hippocratic Oath and how ethics is applied in research and medicine today. His talk was followed by a case study based around the scenario of publishing a report that contains information about the probability of smokers and their partners contracting COVID-19. Students were put in break-out rooms to discuss it in small groups and then returned for a big group discussion.
It was good to be able to listen to everyone’s opinions and interesting to pick out different aspects of the case study which we had not noticed. The case study allowed students to combine the knowledge they had previously learnt and new information acquired from Professor Heinrich’s session to apply it to a realistic and relatable situation. The talk concluded with a question-and-answer session covering more medical focused ethical scenarios and questions on the Professor’s incredible career.
We are very grateful to Professor Heinrich for giving up his time to talk us and I hope this opportunity reminded students of the importance of ethics in medicine and research.
