Ethics competences in the undergraduate medical education curriculum: the Spanish experience

Abstract

AimTo investigate if there are differences in medical ethics education between different schools of medicine in Spain, specifically between private and public schools and between recently founded schools and older ones.MethodThe curricula of medical degrees from all Spanish faculties were reviewed for the 2014/2015 academic year, identifying subjects concerning bioethics, deontology, and ethics. We identified the type of teaching, format and method of the course, the number of credits and hours, and the school year of each subject. An analysis with descriptive parameters and the Cohen’s coefficient (d) was performed.ResultsAll medical schools in Spain (n = 44) were included. A mean of 3.64 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits was specifically devoted to ethical values teaching in Spain. Private medical schools offered more credits than public ones (6.51 ECTS vs 2.88 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 2.06>>0.8), and the 10 most recently founded medical schools offered more credits than the 10 oldest (5.86 ECTS vs 2.63 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 1.43 > 0.8). A mean of 36.75 hours was dedicated to ethics education.ConclusionsAlthough ethics education is incorporated into the training of future Spanish physicians, there is still notable heterogeneity between different medical schools in the time devoted to this topic.

Comparison of Medical Ethics Approaches According to Professional Experience and the Source of Medical Ethics Training: A Survey Study

“…According to a study conducted among academics, it was reported that the majority of participants believe in the necessity of medical ethics courses (13). According to a recent study, the necessity of medical ethics courses given in medical faculties was reported, but it was reported that there was no standardization regarding the duration of medical ethics courses to be given (4). Similar results have been shown in other studies (14).…”

“…However, in this question, the importance of four indispensable factors (providing benefit, non-harm, fairness, and respect for autonomy) for medical ethics was questioned for the participants. Healthcare professionals with sufficient ethical knowledge are expected to give full scores to these four questions (4). According to the results of our study, it was concluded that the participants who received ethics education from the ethics experts pay more attention to the concepts in these four questions.…”

“…In the survey, questions 1 to 9 consisted of elective questions that included the participants' demographic characteristics and their views on ethics and ethics education, while the 10 th question consisted of 11 different sub-questions, including the participant's opinions and knowledge levels on medical ethics, and the questionnaire that was filled in by rating every option separately. The four essential rules for basic medical ethical values, such as providing benefit, non-harm, fairness and respect for autonomy, are among these questions and with this question to measure the level of knowledge of the participants about medical ethics (4). In this question, participants were asked to score 1-5 points for each sub-question (1=I don't care at all, 2=I care less, 3=I am indecisive, 4=I care, 5=I fully care).…”

“…Medical professionals should be familiar with and respect basic medical ethical values, such as providing benefit, non-harm, fairness, and respect for autonomy (4). Although the concepts of medicine and ethics have been used together since the time of Hippocrates and certain medical ethics values have been formed, a standard ethics education has come to the agenda in recent years and has become widespread (5).…”

Conhecimento sobre ética médica e resolução de conflitos na graduação

“…In the health area, the professional's ability to solve dilemmas is often challenged, and it is essential to know guiding principles of ethical conduct. Thus, it is necessary to study medical ethics from the beginning of the medical course, advancing during the internship [1][2][3][4] , medical residency 5 and the practice of profession 6 . Ethics is part of philosophy and constitutes rational knowledge based on three main pillars: the first one involves awareness or perception of conflicts; the second deals with the autonomy and ability of the individual to position himself or herself between reason and emotion; and the third is based on the coherence of the individual 3,7 .…”