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Ethical dilemmas reported by fourth-year dental students
Helen M Sharp1, Raymond A Kuthy, Keith E Heller
1Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA. helen.sharp@wmich.edu
Journal of Dental Education
|October 6, 2005
Summary
Dental students frequently encounter ethical dilemmas, primarily concerning patient resources and professional conflicts during clinical rotations. Understanding these issues can inform practical dental ethics education.
Area of Science:
- Dental Education
- Bioethics
- Professional Ethics
Background:
- Ethics education is mandatory for dental accreditation, yet curriculum content and student engagement remain subjects of discussion.
- Faculty face challenges selecting relevant topics from professional ethics, bioethics, and humanities for dental students.
- There is a need to align ethics education with the practical ethical challenges dental students face in clinical settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and categorize ethical issues encountered by fourth-year dental students during community-based extramural clinical experiences.
- To provide a foundation for developing a practical and relevant dental ethics curriculum based on student-reported dilemmas.
Main Methods:
- Fourth-year dental students (n=123) wrote essays detailing ethical issues from extramural clinical rotations.
- Essays were analyzed, and ethical issues were categorized and coded through consensus by two faculty authors.
Main Results:
- The most frequently reported ethical issues involved patients' limited resources (25%), conflicts between professionals (19%), clinic policies/procedures (15%), and surrogate decision-making (13%).
- Nearly all students (99%) reported encountering at least one ethical issue during their clinical experiences.
Conclusions:
- Student-perceived ethical issues in clinical practice offer valuable insights for designing a practical dental ethics curriculum.
- Analyzing these reports can facilitate systematic assessment of students' ability to apply ethical principles in real-world dental practice.