Teaching and assessing ethics in the newborn ICU

Ethics and professionalism education has become increasingly recognized as important and incorporated into graduate medical education. However, such education has remained largely unstructured and understudied in neonatology. Neonatal-perinatal fellowship training programs have generally grappled with how best to teach and assess ethics and professionalism knowledge, skills, and behavior in clinical practice, particularly in light of accreditation requirements, milestones, and competencies. This article reviews currently available teaching methods, pedagogy, and resources in medical ethics, professionalism, and communication, as well as assessment strategies and tools, to help medical educators and practicing clinicians ensure trainees achieve and maintain competency. The need for consensus and future research in these domains is also highlighted.