Why our ethics curricula don't work.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Bioethics
• Dental Education

Background:

• Ethics curricula in professional education often fail to translate into behavioral changes.
• Current approaches may focus on rules (e.g., dental practice acts, codes of ethics) rather than fostering ethical reasoning.
• A gap exists between ethical knowledge acquisition and its application in professional conduct.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the effectiveness of current ethics curricula in dental education.
• To identify specific weaknesses in existing ethics education that hinder behavioral change.
• To propose an innovative approach to cultivate an introspective orientation towards professional ethics.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of typical ethics curriculum content and pedagogical approaches in dental schools.
• Identification of three key weaknesses: overemphasis on education, lack of engagement, and inadequate content for behavioral change.
• Proposal of a precurriculum intervention to bridge the knowledge-action gap.

Main Results:

• Ethics courses are perceived as having marginal impact on student behavior.
• Common curricula are often "about" ethics rather than "teaching" ethics for behavioral change.
• Identified weaknesses include: "more education is not the answer," "ethics is boring," and inadequate content for introspection.

Conclusions:

• Existing ethics curricula are inadequate in both content and form to cultivate genuine ethical behavior.
• A shift towards fostering introspection is necessary for meaningful behavioral change.
• Implementing a precurriculum early in dental education is proposed to address the knowledge-action disconnect.