Clinical ethics ward rounds: building on the core curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Ethics
• Professionalism

Background:

• The clinical years are crucial for developing medical students' ethical reasoning and behavior.
• Existing clinical ethics education may not fully equip students to address complex ethical dilemmas.
• There is a need for effective teaching strategies to enhance ethical decision-making in medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a novel clinical ethics teaching activity for undergraduate medical students.
• To assess the impact of the activity on student engagement and ethical action-taking.
• To identify challenges in clinical ethics education for medical students.

Main Methods:

• A modified teaching ward round model was implemented at the Rural Clinical School, University of New South Wales.
• Undergraduate medical students presented deidentified ethical cases for peer-led, round-table discussions.
• The study evaluated changes in student engagement and involvement in managing ethically challenging situations.

Main Results:

• Students reported higher engagement with clinical ethics topics following the intervention.
• Participants valued the structured peer discussion time for learning.
• No significant change was observed in students' willingness to manage or plan actions in ethically challenging scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Peer-led, case-based discussions can enhance medical students' engagement with clinical ethics.
• A significant challenge remains in translating ethical awareness into proactive action among students.
• Further research is needed to overcome barriers preventing students from acting on ethical concerns.