Global Health Ethics: Perceptions, Privilege and Priorities

Jenny Li is working in Ghana this summer with the Bass Connections project team Distance-based, Executive-style Degree Completion Program for Ghanaian Nurse Anesthetists and the Duke Global Health Institute Student Research Training Program.

“Concepts of global health ethics presented in the classroom and workshops have always seemed abstract to me. Even as a student pursuing the Ethics Certificate from the Kenan Institute, I have only gained theoretical knowledge and philosophical ways of thinking throughout the school year.

“Navigating real ethical boundaries on the ground this summer has been eye opening and more complicated than I ever imagined. Each week, we have faced ethical challenges that we had to deeply reflect upon individually and as a group. Most of the difficult situations we encountered have revolved around our identity from the community’s perspective, when people have looked up to us as foreign ambassadors, health professionals, or philanthropists who have influence over their hospitals and health system.”

Read her post on the Duke Global Health Institute’s Diaries from the Field blog.