Navigating Complex, Ethical Problems in Professional Life: a Guide to Teaching SMART Strategies for Decision-Making

Area of Science:

• Professionalism and Ethics Education
• Decision-Making Strategies
• Psychological Factors in Professional Conduct

Background:

• Professionalism and ethics training is crucial for navigating complex situations.
• Trainees face psychological and environmental factors that can impede ethical decision-making.
• Existing decision-making frameworks may not adequately address these multifaceted challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the integration of a professional decision-making tool into training curricula.
• To equip trainees with strategies to address threats to professional decision-making.
• To introduce the SMART decision-making framework for complex ethical scenarios.

Main Methods:

• Review of key decision-making frameworks and undermining factors.
• Presentation of the SMART (Seeking help, Managing emotions, Anticipating consequences, Recognizing rules and context, Testing assumptions and motives) framework.
• Illustration of the framework's application through a detailed vignette.

Main Results:

• The SMART framework offers a structured approach to ethical decision-making.
• The vignette effectively demonstrates the practical application of each SMART strategy.
• Educational practices and pedagogical tools are proposed for effective training facilitation.

Conclusions:

• The SMART framework can enhance trainees' ability to apply professional decision-making strategies.
• Integration of this tool and related pedagogical practices can improve learning, retention, and application.
• Instructors can effectively utilize this framework to bolster professionalism and ethics training.