Medical students’ exposure to ethically complex realities of medicine is inadequate

Medical schools do not focus enough on confronting ethically challenging problems. Students feel less prepared for common ethical problems than for common medical problems,1 and we are encouraged to observe complex surgical cases more than ethical ones, despite the latter’s broader applicability and immediacy. Doctors lacking confidence in their ethical judgment risk patient safety, so the gap between the teaching of ethics in medical school and practical reality is astounding.With consent, medical students get to observe most surgical procedures, but we aren’t encouraged to observe complex ethical situations. We should be.This would support us in three ways: firstly, students would not be taught ethics formally—in the same way students are not taught to perform endoscopic third ventriculostomies. The value comes from increased exposure to ethical aspects of medicine. Secondly, students are ideally placed to overcome apprehensiveness towards ethical situations in practice via their diminished responsibility. Finally, observation of ethical problems…
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