Clinical Ethic Conference

Teaching Clinical Ethics Using Materials Developed from Real Cases and Clinical Ethics Conferences

Abstract

　In the core curriculum for Medical Education, “Ethics and bioethics of medicine” is listed under the heading of “professionalism” . Medical ethics covers research ethics and clinical ethics. Clinical ethics deals with dilemmas encountered in the clinical practice.　When educating students on the four principles of medical ethics (respect for autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence), it seems that it is effective for them to learn through experiencing a clinical ethics conference. However, it is difficult for students to experience an actual conference. Tence the in class use of case examples which will be introduced here.　One drawback to this approach is that there are many cases where the ethical dilemma is not clear even when those cases are presented at a clinical ethics conference. It is important to “discover the problem” through conference discussions, and interactions that cultivate ethical sensitivity. This is also one of the major goals of education.