Dr. Brungardt studied beginning of life issues, how you prove physically and philosophically that this is a human person; end of life issues; environmental issues and their moral underpinnings; social justice issues; and the history of bioethics, how that came to be, and how in the 1960s secular bioethics branched away from what had been Christian bioethics with Humanae Vitae as the hinge of the branch.
Medical ethics isn’t new for Dr. Brungardt. He chairs the Via Christi Regional Medical Center Ethics Committee and has been a consultant for the diocese regarding medical ethics issues for a long time.
“I think of the degree as a deepening and broadening” of my ability to assist the bishop, his priests, and the community, he said. “It’s a more formalization of that…I had plenty of gaps and I hope it helped fill in some of those gaps.”
Dr. Brungardt added that he will also use his new knowledge in his role as a physician caring for patients and families at the end of their lives amidst the many ethical concerns and issues that arise at that time. In addition, it will be valuable in teaching medical students and resident physicians in his role as associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center-Wichita.
After all the work, money, and time away from home, Dr. Brungardt said it was well worth it.
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“I can’t give you a sound bite,” he said, “it’s basically all of the above. It was an incredible experience.”
Dr. Brungardt said now that he has completed his studies, it is the people and relationships he made during his studies that have become valuable.
“There are bishops and physicians and lawyers all over the world – and I have their emails,” he said. “I email them one day and they send one back the next day. They are people I would never have otherwise had that relationship with.”