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J Relig Health (2013) 52:10731078 DOI 10.1007/s10943-013-9747-5
ORIGINAL PAPER
Christopher Terndrup
Published online: 23 June 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Despite many efforts to increase ethics education in US medical schools, barriers continue to arise that impede the production of morally driven physicians who practice medicine with ideal empathy. Research has shown that, particularly during the clinical years, medical students lose the ability both to recognize ethical dilemmas and to approach such situations with compassionate reasoning. This article summarizes the current status of ethics education in US medical schools, described through the eyes of and alongside the story of a graduating medical student.
Keywords Ethics Medical education Empathy Medical student
Among many pieces of helpful advice, my father stressed the following when I left for medical school: Always remember why you wanted to be a doctor in the rst place, especially when you get to your third year. While I found the guidance oddly specic, I made a mental note to commit his suggestion to memory. Like most young physicians in training, I entered my rst year with strong ideals, a passion to serve my community, and a desire to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, for unclear reasons, many medical students lose that fervor and neglect their guiding principles as they enter the practice of medicine. Graduating doctors have gaps in either knowledge or skills related to moral reasoning and ethical decisions, which many propose results from the loss of ideals witnessed during medical school (Branch 2000). More licensed, practicing physicians now lack the very principles for which they were accepted to medical school in the rst place.
Multiple studies have attempted to address this growing problem by investigating what the holes are and what causes them. Other studies, fewer but possibly more important, address how to ll these gaps. Finally, the medical profession should recall why producing value-driven physicians is important to our current and ever-changing healthcare system (Eckles et al. 2005). In this article, I attempt to summarize these key points from the
C. Terndrup (&)
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA e-mail: [email protected]
A Students Perspective on Medical Ethics Education
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perspective of a graduating medical student. This summary will not...