Ethics and professionalism in general practice placements: what should students learn?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professional Ethics
• General Practice

Background:

• Numerous ethical and professionalism challenges exist within Australian general practice.
• Understanding the perceived importance of these issues is crucial for effective medical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the most critical ethical and professionalism issues for general practitioner (GP) teachers and students.
• To inform GP teachers in facilitating student learning regarding these important domains.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to GP teachers and medical students.
• Participants evaluated the significance of 32 distinct ethical issues for student learning.
• Students self-assessed their confidence levels in managing these ethical areas.

Main Results:

• Strong agreement between GP teachers and students on the importance of issues like patient confidentiality, medical errors, colleague interactions, and managing drug-seeking patients.
• Notable discrepancies were observed in perceived importance and confidence levels.
• Students reported high confidence in patient confidentiality but low confidence in managing career/training decisions and medical mistakes.

Conclusions:

• Medical students express a clear desire for increased education on career and training decisions, and medical errors.
• There is a potential for students to underestimate the complexities inherent in patient confidentiality and professional relationships within general practice settings.