Blogs as Teaching Tools

Actual case studies and personal narratives are oftentimes the optimal jumping off point in teaching ethical theory, methods, and stimulating discussion. In addition to the standard hardcopy tome, why not use the real-time lived experiences of bloggers? Here are a few blogs to check out, which might serve as discussion starters in your bioethics class:

A Little Pregnant [http://www.alittlepregnant.com/] Description: Madcap misadventures in infertility, pregnancy, and parenthood.

Hospice Blog [http://hospiceblog.blogspot.com/] Description: Fighting for quality hospice care for those that need it.

A Single Woman's Journey To Motherhood [http://kajohn345.blogspot.com/] Description: I am 30 and ready to start my family. I am beginning TTC in January. If that doesn't work (after 6 months to a year), I am heading to adoption. These are my random thoughts and obsessions about TTC, adoption, weight loss, teaching, and working on (actually procrastinating) my Master's. If you stop by, please leave me a short note! I like to know when I have visitors.

Code Blog: Tales of a Nurse [http://www.codeblog.com/]

Death Maiden [http://www.deathmaiden.blogspot.com/] Description: The following postings are all fictionalized. Names and circumstances have all been changed to protect the identity of persons in the stories. Any resemblance to real life people and circumstances is purely coincidence. This blog has been created to explore my personal feelings and professional experiences with death and dying. --Dominic Sisti

IVF Risks and Benefits

Liza Mundy chronicles this year's ASRM discussion of the recent New England Journal discussion of IVF risks. The framing of the Slate piece is ASRM's colorful bazaar atmosphere and the even more wild atmosphere of IVF (according to Mundy). But the article is a really outstanding overview of the state of the debate, complete with references to all the studies. Anybody planning to teach IVF ethics issues to undergraduates or laypeople should read this piece.