Welcome to Fall 2024! Going forward, we will be publishing only two issues of this newsletter each year to better align with the academic calendar and help you plan to join us for our events.
We especially welcome all the students who have joined our community recently. We have launched a new listserv, especially for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who have expressed interest in bioethics, medical ethics, health and medical humanities, and arts in health. This listerv will provide an important connection for students who might, for example, be pursuing a career in medicine, following an interdisciplinary research interest, curious about what a clinical ethicist does, or simply looking for like-minded peers and colleagues.
An important part of our mission as a University-wide Center is to serve as an educational resource for all students. When we receive information about volunteer or professional opportunities, scholarships, contests, and events that are expressly for students, we want to be able to share that news effectively and efficiently. We are planning future events that will address the interests expressed by students who answered our survey in late 2023.
If you are a student at the U, please join the listserv; we promise to keep the emails streamlined and not too frequent. Faculty and staff, please send us your interested students!
We at the Center were honored to receive a bequest from Dr. Neil Kochenour, who passed away in November 2023. Dr. Kochenour was an innovative and talented physician, who helped establish maternal-fetal medicine and a fetal diagnostic center at the University of Utah and was a valued member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He was also kind and compassionate, with lifelong attention to the ethical considerations that accompany a career in medicine. He described himself as a humanitarian and a lover of the arts. His thoughtful gift will have a significant impact for the Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities. I feel lucky that I had a chance to spend some time with Dr. Kochenour and am moved by his faith that we can continue the hard but important work in medical ethics and humanities that he valued during his career.