The activities of the Center for Ethics, Medicine, and Public Issues (Texas) are described. The center focuses on the clinical teaching of medical ethics, collaborative teaching and research involving ethicists and clinicians, and the training of future practitioners. Problems and achievements are highlighted. (Author/MSE)

The development of medical ethics education at the University of California, San Francisco, is chronicled and its contributions to bioethics literature are noted. Emphasis is placed on the importance of using medical cases in such instruction. The University of Washington's ethics program and its potential for innovation are then described.…

The medical school's ethics program evolved through cooperation with the humanities department. Key aspects of the program include the teaching of medical ethics in the context of other issues of value and meaning in medicine, and involvement of humanities faculty in the medical center. (Author/MSE)

Issues in the inclusion of medical ethics in the medical curriculum are discussed, including its relevance, whether or not ethics can be taught, whose ethics should be taught, the contribution of the professional ethicist, and the relevance of humanistic studies outside ethics. (MSE)

A discussion of medical ethics in the medical curriculum reviews its recent history, examines areas of consensus, and describes teaching objectives and methods, course content, and program evaluation at preclinical and clinical levels. Prerequisites for successful institutionalization of medical ethics education are defined, and its future is…

The medical school's ethics and human values program spans the medical curriculum from first through fourth year and extends into several residency programs. Taught by scholars in the medical humanities and clinicians from almost every specialty, courses and seminars draw on philosophy, literature, and law. (Author/MSE)

Development of a comprehensive medical ethics teaching program for four years and residency, and of an ethics consultation service, are described. Potentials and significant difficulties in program establishment and maintenance are discussed, including long-term funding, negative faculty and student attitudes, and instructional approaches.…

A survey of all 16 Canadian medical schools found that 15 provided some ethics education. Time allocated ranged from 10-45 hours per degree, with no discernible pattern of distribution across years. Most teaching was case based and issue oriented, most instructors were physicians, and most schools used a pass-fail standard. (Author/MSE)

A three-year curriculum in medical ethics operates at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University as part of the general internal medicine residency program. The six major topics covered are co-taught as seminars by one or more members of the multidisciplinary ethics faculty (philosopher, internist, and communications specialist) and experienced…

Application of ethical principles to relationships and pedagogic problems in medical education is discussed, focusing on the associations medical students form with teachers, patients, school, each other that shape them as professionals. It is argued that introduction of ethics into these areas can help students and teachers and improve medical…

This report describes the development and implementation of a required course in medical ethics for second-year medical students at Cornell University Medical College (New York). The planning model stressed achieving faculty consensus. Evaluation indicated that faculty felt the planning sessions added greatly to their teaching and students were…

A survey of 665 fourth-year medical students in 6 schools investigated whether students had encountered ethically problematic situations, their attitudes about them, and their perceptions of their personal ethical development. Results suggest that ethical dilemmas are commonly encountered and often detrimental, warranting attention of physicians,…

A study of 110 first-year University of Virginia medical students taking a required course in medical ethics found that the curriculum had little effect on student attitudes toward certain ethical questions or on their factual knowledge regarding particular ethical and legal issues. (Author/MSE)

This paper argues that in the debate over medical ethics and its role in medical education, the divergence of law and reality reflects the law's flawed medical model, which poorly matches the dynamic of the physician-patient relationship and attempts ineffectually to reshape it, and also medicine's autonomous professional culture, which…

A survey of 249 students at the State University of New York at Buffalo identified medical ethics issues arising during clinical training in professional norms, limits of intervention, defensive shielding of professional colleagues, respect toward patients, communication, and student boundaries. Concerns differed by student year, supporting…