NEEDS AND NECESSITIES OF MEDICAL ETHICS EDUCATION

Abstract

In the recent years, new medical technologies and their probable misuses have emerged public concerns about medical ethics. Medical ethics is a practical discipline that provides a structured approach for identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical issues in clinical medicine. In this study we reviewed some new methods of teaching medical ethics in other countries by searching in internet and literature. Two key features related to the teaching of medical ethics are active involvement of students in the learning process instead of merely lecturing about the ethical principles and assessing how students apply their knowledge of ethical principles in simulated and actual situations. In many countries such as Iran, medical schools attempted to address medical ethics issues in formal ethics classes. It is clear that the traditional method is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of practitioners and societies and new methods particularly those emphasize on active learning, individual participation, group interactions, and a process – based approach, should be developed and implemented. In addition, a concerted effort to improve education in medical ethics will benefit the medical profession and services to patients. Therefore, we recommend policy makers of medical ethics education to change the traditional methods to the modern methods; which are used now in the world.