Maria de Lourdes Ladino, a third-year student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been chosen as one of 14 medical students to take part in Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).
FASPE is a two-week international program for students in five professional disciplines (business, journalism, law, medicine and religion) designed to address contemporary ethical issues in their chosen fields. This year’s group of 63 fellows was chosen from a pool of more than 700 applicants worldwide.
“Ethics is a really fascinating topic to me,” said Ladino. “As a doctor, it’s an important field for me to be trained in, especially as an emergency physician. I feel like there will be a lot of points in my career where I will have to face difficult and complicated situations and need to make decisions based on what is best for my patients, not my own personal values.
“I am interested in this program because I want it to push me away from where I feel comfortable and safe, and challenge my views and pull me out of my comfort zone.”
During the 12-day program, fellows will attend lectures and participate in seminars that integrate historical, cultural, philosophical and literary sources as well as survivor testimony in Berlin, Auschwitz and Krakow.