Building connections between biomedical sciences and ethics for medical students

BMC Medical Education

Research

Shawn Staudaher¹  Alwyn Mathew¹  Travis Hyatt¹  Yuan Zhao²  Oluwaseun Olaiya³  Zachary Bachman⁴ 

[1] College of Osteopathic Medicine, Sam Houston State University, Conroe, USA;Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Sam Houston State University, Conroe, USA;Department of Primary Care and Clinical Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Sam Houston State University, Conroe, USA;Department of Psychology and Philosophy, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, USA;

关键词: Medical ethics;    Medical education;    Curriculum development;    Biomedical science;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-022-03865-y

 received in 2022-07-27, accepted in 2022-11-04,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMedical ethics education is crucial for preparing medical students to face ethical situations that can arise in patient care. Instances of ethics being integrated into biomedical science education to build the connection between human science and ethics is limited. The specific aim of this study was to measure student attitudes towards an innovative curriculum design that integrates ethics education directly into a biomedical science course in pre-clinical medical curriculum.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, three ethics learning modules were designed and built in a biomedical science course in the pre-clinical curriculum. All students of Class of 2024 who were enrolled in the course in 2021 were included in the study. Each module integrated ethics with basic science topics and was delivered with different teaching modalities. The first module used a documentary about a well-known patient with severe combined immunodeficiency disease. The second module was delivered through a clinical scenario on HIV infection. The third module used small group discussion and debate on the topic of blood transfusion. For evaluation, students were asked to self-identify the ethical challenges associated with each module and complete reflective writing to assess their knowledge and attitude. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on student perceptions of each module.ResultsLikert scale ratings on the usefulness of each module revealed significantly higher ratings for the small group discussion/debate module, seconded by the documentary and lastly the case scenario only modules. Narrative analysis on student feedback revealed three themes: General favorable impression, Perceived learning outcomes, and Critiques and suggestion. Common and unique codes were identified to measure the strengths and weaknesses of each module. Overall, students’ perception of the curriculum design was extremely positive.ConclusionsThis curriculum design enabled us to highlight foundational biomedical sciences and clinical conditions with ethical dilemmas that physicians are likely to face in practice. Students found value in the modules, with a preference for the most active learning method. This study provides insight on a novel approach for integrating medical ethics into biomedical science courses that can be tailored to any institution. Strategies learned include utilizing active learning modalities and discussion.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

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