A study finds a gap between learning ethical terms and using them in a clinical setting, which can lead to a lack of shared understanding.
By MARCIA FRELLICK
amednews correspondent — Posted May 15, 2013
Do medical school students remember ethical principles when they start practicing medicine?
Because physicians need shared language and universal terms when they discuss ethical issues with each other and with patients, researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine examined how well terms and concepts taught in school were recalled and incorporated in the clinical years. The study asked 109 third-year medical students at the University of Iowa to recall ethics terms learned in the first two years of school.
Results were mixed, according to the study posted online April 14 in AJOB Primary Research. The students were much more likely to name the four ethical principles (beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for patient autonomy and justice) than the six sources of ethical value or categories for justifying an ethical decision (ethical principles, rights, consequences, comparable cases, professional guidelines and conscientious practice).
Overall, 59.6% of the students remembered all four principles, but the highest number of sources of ethical value recalled was four of the six. Only 10% of students could name three or four of the six sources.
The entire article is here.
Here is the original research abstract.
Background:
Ethics education is an established part of the medical school curriculum and typically involves preclinical instruction that includes formal ethical terminology. However, it is not clear whether the language of ethics taught in preclinical settings is applied by students during the clinical years of training.
Methods:
We used a survey and a content analysis of written reflections to determine whether third-year (clinical) medical students were able to recall and apply ethical principles and other sources of ethical value they were taught as second-year (preclinical) students.
Results:
The majority of clinical students were able to recall the four ethical principles, appreciated the relevance of preclinical ethics education, and had positive self-assessments of their clinical-ethical reasoning abilities. However, they were less able to recall other (nonprinciple) sources of ethical value and infrequently used ethical terms spontaneously in written reflections about ethically or professionally challenging issues.
Conclusions:
Ethics educators should consider the extent to which preclinical ethics education depends on a formal language of ethics and should develop ways to reinforce that language meaningfully through experience-based learning opportunities during the clinical years of training, with special emphasis on the way clear ethical reasoning and communication demonstrate respect for other persons.
