COLLEEN SURATT – University Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities
Fourth Year / Spanish and interdisciplinary studies, bioethics minor
As an intern at the University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities, Colleen Suratt is spending her summer delving into some of the trickiest ethical dilemmas facing doctors and nurses today.
Suratt will shadow the center’s board members, consisting of faculty, social workers and medical professionals, as they provide on-call ethics consulting to the University Medical Center. When not at the hospital, she will compile a literature review of a particularly complex case the hospital faced a few months ago, which will help set a precedent for future cases.
This summer’s internship is the latest in a string of bioethics projects Suratt has completed, including an internship with Emory University’s Center for Bioethics that was funded by U.Va.’s Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life.
“People are sometimes afraid to go out and ask for an opportunity, but it is so important. Even if they say no, that does not really hurt you,” Suratt said. Each opportunity has exposed her to different areas of bioethics, helping her to narrow future career paths.
“Bioethics is not a stand-alone field. You can approach it through many different avenues, from medical school to public health to philosophy or religious studies,” she said. “Hopefully being around people in the center this summer will help me to see which approach interests me most.”
