Mary Kaufmann and Kelsey Rich have been selected as the new student leaders for the School of Medicine’s Clinical Ethics Discussion Group This position also entails appointment to the UNC Hospital Ethics Committee. Outgoing leaders are Konan Beke and Celia Mizelle. Center for Bioethics faculty members Arlene Davis and Jean Cadigan are advisors to the student group. Professors Davis and Cadigan are also HEC members.
Mary grew up in Salisbury, NC, and graduated from Davidson College in 2022 with a B.A. in Philosophy. She enjoyed exploring the intersection between philosophy and medicine through her work at an end-of-life care home, and she is particularly interested in the ethics of end-of-life care. She looks forward to learning from other committee members, gaining new skills, and further exploring the field of bioethics through her involvement with HEC and CEDG.
Kelsey graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology in 2020. Her concentration was in Public Health and Health Policy, but she also had her first introduction to bioethics as part of the coursework for her major. After graduation, Kelsy served with AmeriCorps for two years as part of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and the Southeast Alaska Area Health Education Center. During that time, she kept up with her interest in bioethics through podcasts and digital seminars and even had the opportunity to teach a short overview of bioethics to a group of high schoolers. She is excited to continue her ethics education journey as a CEDG leader!