Ethics/human values education in the family practice residency

Courses in medical ethics (and other humanities) have been introduced into the curricula of many medical schools, but formal attention to ethics and the value dimensions of medical practice have been largely absent from a crucial phase of medical education and socialization--the residency. In this paper the scope of ethics is identified in terms of the normal professional experiences of a family physician. The author describes in detail the six educational objectives and the instructional methods that form the basis of the ethics/human values curriculum in the Department of Family Practice residency program, Medical University of South Carolina.