[BeaverFever]

In my experience, an "ethicist" isn't an outsider to the profession who majored in ethics or such topics in university, nor is it someone who pontificates on ethical issues as full-time job. Rather, its often an insider who contributes to ethical discussions (often unpaid), on a part-time basis or on their own time.

For example, a person whose full-time job is the head of a hospital's ER but is also a sitting member on the hospital's ethics committee, or contributes to the subject in the CMAJ, speaks at medical conferences, etc.