“Can virtue be taught?”: a content analysis of medical students’ opinions of the professional and ethical challenges to their professional identity formation

BMC Medical Education

Jenny Kim¹  Chelsea Hu²  Melody Jih³  Michael Hawking⁴  John D. Yoon⁵ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA;Department of Economics and the Department of Political Science, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA;Department of Economics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA;Hematology and Oncology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA;MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, 5841 S Maryland Ave, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA;

关键词: Clinical ethics;    Kaldjian taxonomy;    Professionalism;    Professional identity formation;    Virtue ethics;    Wisdom;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-020-02313-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEfforts have begun to characterize the ethical and professional issues encountered by medical students in their clinical years. By applying previously identified taxonomies to a national sample of medical students, this study seeks to develop generalizable insights that can inform professional identity formation across various clerkships and medical institutions.MethodsIn a national survey of medical students, participants answered an open-ended survey item that asked them to describe a clinical experience involving an ethical or professional issue. We conducted a content analysis with these responses using the Kaldjian taxonomy of ethical and professionalism themes in medical education through an iterative, consensus-building process. Noting the emerging virtues-based approach to ethics and professionalism, we also reexamined the data using a taxonomy of virtues.ResultsThe response rate to this survey item was 144 out of 499 eligible respondents (28.9%). All 144 responses were successfully coded under one or more themes in the original taxonomy of ethical and professional issues, resulting in a total of 173 coded responses. Professional duties was the most frequently coded theme (29.2%), followed by Communication (26.4%), Quality of care (18.8%), Student-specific issues of moral distress (16.7%), Decisions regarding treatment (16.0%), and Justice (13.2%). In the virtues taxonomy, 180 total responses were coded from the 144 original responses, and the most frequent virtue coded was Wisdom (23.6%), followed by Respectfulness (20.1%) and Compassion or Empathy (13.9%).ConclusionsOriginally developed from students’ clinical experiences in one institution, the Kaldjian taxonomy appears to serve as a useful analytical framework for categorizing a variety of clinical experiences faced by a national sample of medical students. This study also supports the development of virtue-based programs that focus on cultivating the virtue of wisdom in the practice of medicine.

【 授权许可】

CC BY