What Does It Mean for a Case to be ‘Local’?: the Importance of Local Relevance and Resonance for Bioethics Education in the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

Contemporary bioethics education has been developed predominately within Euro-American contexts, and now, other global regions are increasingly joining the field, leading to a richer global understanding. Nevertheless, many standard bioethics curriculum materials retain a narrow geographic focus. The purpose of this article is to use local cases from the Asia-Pacific region as examples for exploring questions such as 'what makes a case or example truly local, and why?', 'what topics have we found to be best explained through local cases or examples?', and 'how does one identify a relevant local case?' Furthermore, we consider the global application of local cases to help extend the possible scope of the discussion, opening new avenues for the development of practical bioethics educational materials. We begin with a background description and discussion of why local cases enhance bioethics education, move to an overview of what is currently available and what is not for the region, and then outline a discussion of what it means to be local using example cases drawn from Hong Kong, Australia, Pakistan, and Malaysia. We are not creating a casebook but rather constructing by example a toolbox for designing active and dynamic learning cases using regional diversity as contextualised cases with generalised principles.

Evolution of bioethics education in the medical programme: a tale of two medical schools

“…These examples demonstrated that there is no unified approach to ethical problems, and responses are the result of a complex mix of moral and value-related issues (Ngan et al 2020 ; Turner 2005 ). A study also discussed that incorporating cases that are relevant to the local medical systems helps cultivate bioethical responsiveness among the students (Bergstresser et al 2020 ). Our learning experience is that placing local contexts as equally as western bioethics enhance the quality of a participatory bioethics teaching in our institutions and it should be done clearly at the design phase of the curriculum.…”

Bioethics curriculum for undergraduate medical students: an evaluation study utilizing mixed methods approach

“…Students at Aga Khan University Medical College practice globally and come from diverse settings and different provinces of the country each having its own culture and nuances, hence cultural relevance is imperative. Studies have highlighted the relevance of understanding culture and religion for a diverse group of students [ 13 , 31 , 32 ]. Moreover, bioethics curriculum tailored culturally has been emphasized for formalization of bioethics in the curricula of medical schools [ 33 ].…”

“…Bioethics education and training has evolved with increased recognition of the need for contextually relevant rather than transplanted curricula [ 10 , 13 ]. The dichotomy in the purpose of bioethics education, seen by some as a means of creating virtuous physician; and by others as a means of providing physicians with a skill set for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas, has made it difficult to agree upon the curriculum design, delivery and assessment methods [ 2 ].…”

La enseñanza de la bioética en el ámbito universitario

“…La elección de este material responde a que en los últimos años han adquirido notoriedad diversas problemáticas que atañen a grupos sociales específicos (29)(30)(31)(32), por lo que la consideración de nuevos escenarios y sujetos en la deliberación ética moviliza la incorporación de nuevas herramientas de reflexión y la revisión crítica de las propias bases conceptuales y metodológicas de la bioética narrativa. En este sentido, existen grupos sociales que han sido históricamente marginados y excluidos de las deliberaciones éticas y de las decisiones en políticas sanitarias, debido a su género, raza, orientación sexual o discapacidad (33)(34)(35)(36)(37).…”