Welcome to the COVID-19 Pandemic Edition of the Duke Medical Ethics Journal. This past year has been difficult for many of us. Some students were unable to return to our beautiful campus and were forced to learn from pre-recorded lectures in their childhood bedrooms, while others never got to experience the culminating experience of their undergraduate careers—graduation. Whatever each of our subjective experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic may be, it is safe to say that all of us had to take up more responsibility for ourselves and for others.

 

COVID-19 has also naturally brought up questions of medical ethics. I can say personally that I have waged many a Facebook battle on the importance of mask-wearing, social distancing, and now, vaccinating. Though most students interested in entering the healthcare field typically fall on one side of the argument, we cannot ignore the concerns of our equals that may have doubts about the validity of these policies.

 

In this issue, you will encounter four different pieces that each touch on a different problem heightened by the pandemic, ranging from questions of healthcare imperialism and the responsibility of former colonizers, to the greater threat of the pandemic on minority children.

 

We hope that you find this issue engaging and thought-provoking as we move into the vaccine phase of this pandemic. From all of us on the DMEJ team, thank you for your continued engagement in questions of healthcare ethics.

 

Megan T. Zhao

Trinity Class of 2021

Editor-in-Chief