Internship students take part in a moral game, a modified version of the lifeboat thought experiment, led by CBEC Faculty, Mr. Farid bin Masood.
CBEC-SIUT Internship for High School Students
Organized by CBEC faculty members, Mr. Farid Bin Masood and Dr. Nida Wahid Bashir, this year’s internship received an overwhelming 87 applications. Ten students were ultimately selected, with 9 participants completing the internship, held from July 21 to 26, 2025. Participants represented schools from different parts of Karachi.
This year’s program adopted a wider approach beyond medical ethics to make it relevant for students interested in fields other than medicine. To achieve this, diverse pedagogies were utilized, including movie screening, group activities, discussions and a debate.
As an example, Ursula Le Guin’s short story “Those who walk away from Omelas” was used to make students reflect upon ideas of justice and the moral compromises one makes for the greater good. “Rice Plate,” a short Indian film, was screened to explore issues of prejudice and stereotypes that influence human behaviors. Students particularly enjoyed the moral game involving a lifeboat exercise where they had to decide who to save among a group of people. They were also asked to share the reasoning behind their selection through which they got an insight into their personal and social biases related to age, gender, and social standing. A session also involved reading out a few satirical Urdu pieces, based on parodies of Aesop’s tales, on social issues such as discrimination, authoritarianism and the impacts of materialism on human relationships.
An activity required students to work in pairs to design advocacy campaigns on walkable cities, carbon footprint and using Google for medical self-diagnosis. Students were asked to research these topics and turn their findings into engaging social media content for public awareness.
Feedback from participants indicated that the session they enjoyed most was the 55-word short-story writing exercise. Based on diverse prompts, students wrote short narratives on which they received feedback from the faculty. In fact, some of them shared that this was the first time they had written a piece of fiction.
Overall, students appreciated the interactive nature of the internship program, along with the consistent involvement of the faculty. However, they wished that the internship had focused more on ethical issues related to medicine and healthcare.