Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
EACME Annual Conference, Rethinking Ethics in 21st Century Europe, Oxford, Birleşik Krallık, 12 - 14 Eylül 2019
Ethics teaching is globally
considered as an essential part of medical education which should foster
professionalism. It does not only provide knowledge for good conduct of
medicine, but also raises medical students as virtuous practitioners. Although
Turkey has had a considerable experience in medical ethics teaching, we were
far from grasping the bigger picture over the country. To this aim, we designed
a survey study to inquire the recent situation of ethics education in Turkish
medical schools. Our questionnaire focused on teaching years, content, teaching,
measurement and assessment methods, work power and infrastructure. We requested
faculty members, officials and administrators to fill it out. The response rate
was 78%.
The findings suggest deficiency of
teaching personnel in many medical schools, although most institutions had an
undergraduate ethics curriculum. Furthermore, there was an imbalance of the
dissemination of the work force among institutions. There was demand for multidisciplinary
ethics teaching, but bureaucratic obstacles were the way of institutionalizing
such collaborations. Clinical ethics education was lacking or ineffective. Although
most bioethics topics were covered in the curriculum, the content was usually
conveyed to students theoretically. Multiple-choice tests were widely used to
assess and evaluate student attainments.
This study points out strengths and
needs for improvement. Competent teaching staff and ethics education integrated
into medical curriculum conducted by a multidisciplinary team seem the most urgent
necessities. To achieve these goals determined administrative support and
clearly defined objectives are needed. Presenting a picture of ethics
education, we hope to initiate reflections on its effects.