April 9, 2015

VUSM student lands fellowship to study ethics and discipline

Kelly Wolenberg, a third-year medical student at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been named to take part in the 2015 Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).

Kelly Wolenberg, a third-year medical student at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been named to take part in the 2015 Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).

VUSM student Kelly Wolenberg

One of 14 medical students chosen to participate in the international program, Wolenberg will join 62 other fellows representing five fields — business, journalism, law, religion and medicine — in a two-week intensive study of contemporary ethics and discipline.

Wolenberg is looking forward to spending time with medical students from across the country and exploring the historical foundations of ethics in medicine.

“I have learned throughout the past year during my medical clerkships that being a good pediatrician, which is what I aspire to be, begins with being a good physician, which extends from one’s core values as a human being,” said Wolenberg.

“I believe FASPE will enrich my understanding of the gravity of my personal and professional decisions throughout my life.”

Participants were selected from a pool of nearly 1,000 applicants from around the world.
FASPE, in its in sixth year, explores the history of the Holocaust during 12 days of seminars, workshops and lectures. Students visit Auschwitz, where they study the past and consider how to apply the lessons of history to the current ethical challenges they will confront in their own professions.