105. On Medical Ethics and
Medical Education
Annabelle Rajaseharan
Dept. Clinical Pharmacology, Madras Medical
College, Madras - 600 003
(E-mail: petit/madras@dartmail.dartnet.com)
What is going on in the world of Medical Students
India has a population on 955 million
people and 40% of the people are estimated to fall ill at least
once a week, necessitating a visit to the doctor. Ethical practice
of medicine therefore becomes an issue of paramount importance,
so ethical values have to be deeply implanted in the minds of
all doctors.
What is the role of Education regarding Ethics?
Like religion, ethics cannot be taught, however it could be introduced into the everyday routine of medical students, especially in their laboratory work and their ward work. Both teacher based and learner based activities could be carried in the form of discussions, lectures, debates and field work to inculcate a humane attitude towards patients, keeping in mind the patient's right to confidentiality and autonomy.
There are hundreds of medical colleges in India. In Tamil Nadu, a state situated in the southern part of the peninsula with a population of 56 million, there are 12 medical colleges and nearly 1200 students graduate each year from them. As in Sri Lanka (1) , here too Medical Ethics is taught as a part of Forensic Medicine. Knowledge of ethics is evaluated by essay type questions or questions requiring short brief answers.
Objectives Of Education
Evaluation T/L Methods
In the Educational spiral (2) even after setting ideal objectives for teaching Medical Ethics, the Teaching/Learning methods depend on the method of evaluation. The following issues are to be considered.
STUDENTS: Entrance into Medical Colleges, especially the Self Financing Colleges entails a large investment by the Student/Parent as capital fee. Tuition fee structure in these institutions is also very high. Therefore the student is under pressure to ensure adequate return on the investment on graduating from the institution. This leads to high consultation and hospital bills and unethical practices like "Package Laboratory Tests"
TEACHERS: It is not mandatory for the teaching staff of any college professional or otherwise to undergo teacher's training. Hence the staff are expected to be "Excellent Teachers " by teaching "instinctively".
TEACHING / LEARNING METHODS: This is also by didactic lectures 90% of the time. This is true for almost all colleges except for a few colleges in the country. Almost all these exceptions are Private Christian Medical Colleges, which have taken it as the Institutions' goal to teach Ethics and Communication skills.
EVALUATION METHODS: Since the evaluation is only through one or two questions in the theory paper of the University final examination the ethical values become impersonal.
SPONSORSHIPS: For conducting medical education by disseminating information through seminars, guest lectures, workshops etc., funding is usually from pharmaceutical companies interested in increasing sales of their products through advertisements or from laboratories where investigations are carried out. (In India there are many such laboratories not attached to any hospital.). The ethics of such funding would have been questioned vigorously in yesteryears but is accepted nowadays.
NEED FOR CHANGE: This has been felt in
many countries (3,4,5,6). Academic medical education must impart
to the student the ethical approach to studies, from dissection
of cadavers to the examination of patients, from the taking of
only relevant history to the conducting of the relevant investigations.
In short , the students must learn to balance in a logical and
humane manner , their need for hands-on training , with the rights
of patients to receive the highest quality of care. This would
result in the students becoming excellent as well as humane doctors.
What Changes?
Changes in T/L methods alone will not be sufficient as acquiring knowledge is very much linked with the evaluation techniques. The students would have the urge to do better if they are suitably rewarded at the end of the learning session . Marks could be awarded wherever possible in the practical examinations (Laboratory experiments to Clinical examinations ) for ethics . Students could be encouraged to form " Core Ethic Groups " as a part of their extracurricular activities .
Students should be actively encouraged to take part in social activities like "Ethics Awareness Day" which could be celebrated under the auspices of the University and the local Government.
In summary much has to be done to make
medical ethics more in touch with reality for the medical students
. This could be achieved through changes in teaching as well as
evaluation methods for educating medical students.
References
1. Babapulle - Teaching of Medical
Ethics in Sri Lanka, Medical Education. 26 (1992), 185-9.
2. WHO Manual - Training of Teachers
of Medical Profession. 1992
3. Mitchell et al- Teaching Bioethics
to Medical Students: The Newcastle Experience, Medical Education
26 (1992), 290-300.
4. Silverman - Narrowing the gap
between rhetoric and the reality of medical ethics. ( review )
Academic Medicine. 71 (1996), 227-37.
5. Myser C.et al - Ethical reasoning
and decision making in the clinical setting: assessing the process.
Medical Education. 29 (1995), 29-33.
6. Shorr AF et al- The effect of
a class in Medical Ethics on first year Medical students. Academic
Medicine 69 (1994), 998 - 1000.
To Bioethics in India book contents
To Eubios Ethics Institute books
To Eubios Ethics Institute home page