Is clinical simulation an effective learning tool in teaching clinical ethics?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Bioethics
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Traditional methods for teaching clinical ethics face challenges in developing practical competencies.
• Clinical simulation offers a reproducible method for training health professionals in ethical decision-making.
• Evidence of effectiveness is needed to validate simulation's role in clinical ethics education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and synthesize existing evidence on the effectiveness of clinical simulation in teaching clinical ethics.
• To evaluate simulation as a learning tool for developing ethical competencies in healthcare students.

Main Methods:

• Bibliographic review conducted in PubMed, LILACS, and Cochrane databases.
• Searched using terms related to clinical ethics education and simulation training.
• Included studies published until July 2019, focusing on identifying, resolving, or reflecting on ethical problems.

Main Results:

• Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria from 116 retrieved.
• The primary outcomes focused on identifying, resolving, or reflecting on ethical problems.
• Sixty percent of studies reported favorable results, primarily using standardized patients.

Conclusions:

• Current evidence on the effectiveness of clinical simulation in clinical ethics education is limited and of low quality.
• Simulation with standardized patients appears beneficial for short-term identification, resolution, and reflection on ethical issues.
• Incorporating simulation into clinical ethics curricula is advisable, resource permitting.