Forming technically proficient, professional, and humanistic physicians for the 21st century is no easy task. Mountains of biomedical knowledge must be acquired, diagnostic competence achieved, effective communication skills developed, and a solid and applicable understanding of the practice and role of physicians in society today must be reached. The central experience for learners in this complex and challenging terrain is the "modeling of" and "learning how to be" a caregiver and health professional. Role modeling remains one crucial area where standards are elusive and where repeated negative learning experiences may adversely impact the development of professionalism in medical students and residents. The literature is mainly descriptive, defining the attributes of good role models from both learners and practitioners' perspectives. Because physicians are not "playing a role" as an actor might, but "embodying" different types of roles, the cognitive and behavioral processes associated with successfully internalizing roles (e.g., the good doctor/medical educator) are important. In this article, the authors identify foundational questions regarding role models and professional character formation; describe major social and historical reasons for inattention to character formation in new physicians; draw insights about this important area from ethics and education theory (philosophical inquiry, apprenticeship, situated learning, observational learning, reflective practice); and suggest the practical consequences of this work for faculty recruitment, affirmation, and development.

Role modeling in physicians' professional formation: reconsidering an essential but untapped educational strategy

PurposeThe authors’ primary goal was to provide a comprehensive and current review of the literature surrounding ethics education for medical students. Following this review, the authors summarize the deficits in the current literature and provide recommendations for future inquiries on medi

Medical ethics education: where are we? Where should we be going? A review.

A companion to bioethics , A companion to bioethics , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران

A Companion to Bioethics

Medical ethics education, it has been said, has 'come of age' in recent years in terms of its formal inclusion in undergraduate medical curricula. This review article examines the background to its inclusion in undergraduate curricula and goes on to examine the consensus that has arisen on the design of ethics curricula, using Harden's curriculum and S.P.I.C.E.S models as templates. While there is consensus on content for undergraduate medical ethics education, there is still significant debate on learning and teaching methods. Despite the broad agreement on the need to apply adult education principles to ethics teaching, there would appear to be some tension between balancing the need for experiential learning and achieving the 'core curriculum'. There are also as yet unresolved difficulties with regards to resources for delivery, academic expertise, curriculum integration and consolidation of learning. Assessment methods also remain contentious. Although there is consensus that the ultimate goal of medical ethics, and indeed of medical education as a whole, is to create 'good doctors', the influence of the 'hidden curriculum' on students' development is only beginning to be recognized, and strategies to counteract its effects are in their infancy. The need for proper evaluation studies is recognized. It is suggested that the areas of debate appearing in the literature could be used as a starting point for evaluation studies, which would form the empirical basis of future curriculum development.

http://ethicist.kmu.edu.tw/pimages/p-55/j.1365-2923.2000.00607.pdf

Review of ethics curricula in undergraduate medical education.

Recently within the critical accounting literature Funnell (1998) has argued that accounting was implicated in the Holocaust. This charge is primarily related to the technical, mathematical nature of accounting and its ability to dehumanise individuals. Broadbent (1998, see also DeMoss and McCann, 1997) has also contended that "accounting logic" excludes emotion. She suggests that a more emancipatory form of accounting could be possible if emotion were given a voice and allowed to be heard within accounting discourse (see also Kjonstad and Wilmott, 1995). This paper contends that emotion should be introduced into accounting education and in particular emotional commitment to other individuals should be encouraged. It is suggested that one way to do this may be through business ethics education. It is also suggested that increasing ethical commitment to other individuals may go some way towards combating the tendency for accountancy to dehumanise other people. While there have been specific studies of ethics and accounting education there has, as yet, been little open debate about what the objectives of accounting ethics education should be or the specific techniques that could be used to meet the desired aims. This paper contends that accountancy has become dangerously dehumanised and that one of the most important objectives for any business ethics education must be to develop an empathy with "the other". The paper studies the developments within the medical, legal and engineering profession in order to suggest some specific methods which could be employed in order to re-humanise accountancy and develop a sense of moral commitment towards other individuals.

The Other Objective of Ethics Education: Re-humanising the Accounting Profession – A Study of Ethics Education in Law, Engineering, Medicine and Accountancy

Medical ethics education is instruction that endeavors to teach the examination of the role of values in the doctor's relationship with patients, colleagues, and society. It is one front of a broad curricular effort to develop physicians' values, social perspectives, and interpersonal skills for the practice of medicine. The authors define medical ethics education as more clinically centered than human values education and more inclusive of philosophical, social, and legal issues than is interpersonal skills training. The authors review the history of the emergence of medical ethics education over the last 20 years, examine the areas of consensus that have emerged concerning the general objectives and premises for designing medical ethics programs, and describe teaching objectives and methods, course content, and program evaluation used in such programs on both preclinical and clinical levels. The four interrelated requirements for successful institutionalization of medical ethics education programs are defined and discussed, and the paper ends with an overview of the uncertain future of medical ethics education, an accepted but still not fully mature part of physician training in the United States. An extensive reference list accompanies the article.

Janet Bickel

Papers

Medical ethics education: Coming of age.