WITHDRAWN: Exploring the Ethical Constructs of Dental Patients to Guide Dental Ethics Teaching

Abstract

BackgroundDental ethics as a construct is mostly developed based on the ethics theory and experiences of professionals. Dental patients, as a stakeholder can guide us about their ethical constructs thereby curriculum developer can contextualize ethics to the local needs. The purpose of this study is to explore the ethical constructs of dental patients to guide dental ethical teaching. MethodsA grounded theory approach, inspired by the socio-constructivist paradigm was used for data collection. The duration of the study was six months and non-probability, purposive, convenience, theoretical sampling was used. Dental patients visiting the various department of dental colleges in Lahore, Pakistan were interviewed to explore their ethical constructs and thematic analysis was done. ResultsNineteen dental patients were interviewed. Three themes were derived from four hundred and sixty-two codes. Three themes were: dental patient ethical constructs, dental ethics teaching, and ethical context. Under these themes, honesty, good communication ethics and respect for patients were the main ethical constructs of dental patients. Dental patient also emphasized effective ethics teaching and assessment. Finally, for the dental patient, religion and economic condition were two main contextual factors effecting ethical construct. ConclusionDental patient desire honesty, good communication ethics, and respect for patient from dental students. The patient defined ethical context and ethical constructs may help curriculum developer to contextualize and emphasize dental ethics teaching. Religion and the financial aspect are the two contextual factors effecting ethical construct that play key roles.