The study of Medical Ethics [ME] is mandatory for health practitioners because there is hardly an area in medicine that doesn't pose an ethical dilemma. There is lack of awareness among physicians. Training of medical students should equip them to provide the best care to patients in an ethical manner without harm. The aim of this paper was to assess the awareness of undergraduate students to ME and take inputs about curricular changes as they are important stake holders. A prospective, cross sectional, observational study through a confidential questionnaire was utilized. 86 proformas were fit for analysis. Majority [68.6%] failed to define ME. Most had been exposed to ME in the college or through the print or visual media. Majority could not recall any incident of professional misconduct witnessed by them, while others recounted incidents such as taking gifts from pharmaceutical companies, rudeness to poor patients, mis-diagnosis due to casual approach towards patients, becoming personal with female patients, organ trafficking, conducting sex determination tests etc. Most were unaware about the existence or purpose of an institutional ethics committee. Regarding the need for studying ME 86.04% said they thought it is important. Majority suggested be interactive case presentations as a method of teaching ME. There is gross unawareness among medical students about the definition, scope and purpose of teaching ME. A drastic change in the medical curriculum is required and new and interesting teaching learning methods need to be evolved in order to train our students in ME.
The study of Medical Ethics [ME] is mandatory for health practitioners because there is hardly an area in medicine that doesn't pose an ethical dilemma. There is lack of awareness among physicians. Training of medical students should equip them to provide the best care to patients in an ethical manner without harm. The aim of this chapter was to assess the awareness of undergraduate students to ME and take inputs about curricular changes as they are important stake holders. A prospective, cross sectional, observational study through a confidential questionnaire was utilized. 86 proformas were fit for analysis. Majority [68.6%] failed to define ME. Most had been exposed to ME in the college or through the print or visual media. Majority could not recall any incident of professional misconduct witnessed by them, while others recounted incidents such as taking gifts from pharmaceutical companies, rudeness to poor patients, mis-diagnosis due to casual approach towards patients, becoming personal with female patients, organ trafficking, conducting sex determination tests etc. Most were unaware about the existence or purpose of an institutional ethics committee. Regarding the need for studying ME 86.04% said they thought it is important. Majority suggested be interactive case presentations as a method of teaching ME. There is gross unawareness among medical students about the definition, scope and purpose of teaching ME. A drastic change in the medical curriculum is required and new and interesting teaching learning methods need to be evolved in order to train our students in ME.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.