| A medical ethical reasoning model and its contributions to medical education. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 20716096 Owner: NLM Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
OBJECTIVES: Ethical reasoning in medicine is not well understood and medical educators often find it difficult to justify what and how they teach and assess in medical ethics. To facilitate the development of moral values and professional conduct, a model of ethical reasoning was created. The purposes of this paper are to describe the ethical reasoning model and to indicate how it can be used to foster moral and ethical behaviours. METHODS: The ethical reasoning model was created from information derived from two sources: (i) an examination of different ethical models described in the literature, and (ii) think-aloud interviews with ethical experts in Taiwan and Canada. All the components and cognitive steps used by experts in ethical decision making were extracted and categorised. Interview subjects consisted of 16 voluntary ethics experts. The ethical reasoning models reported in the literature were divided into two groups according to whether they were justification-based or task-based models. Neither of the two types represented the 'whole picture' of ethical reasoning in medicine. This analysis enabled us to identify five universal cognitive steps and the gaps between 'logical decision' and 'action'. RESULTS: The think-aloud interviews verified the multi-dimensional components or steps used by experts when resolving ethical problems. The resulting model, designated the Medical Ethical Reasoning (MER) Model, reflects interactions within three domains: medical and ethical knowledge; cognitive reasoning processes, and attitude. CONCLUSIONS: The MER Model accurately reflects how doctors resolve ethical dilemmas and is seen to be helpful in identifying what and how educators should teach and assess in ethical reasoning. The model can also serve as a communication framework for curricular design. A 'humane' doctor is competent in providing quality, ethical patient care. Making an appropriate ethical decision is the foundation for subsequent ethical behaviours. By contrast with the abundant evidence cited in previous research describing how doctors solve medical problems, there is little empirical evidence indicating how doctors make appropriate ethical decisions. Thus, the cognition of ethical reasoning in medicine is not well understood. This paper represents a step towards overcoming this problem. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Tsuen-Chiuan Tsai; Peter H Harasym |
Related Documents
:
|
9109206 - Neither human nor natural: ethics and feral animals. 17139356 - Ethics in psychiatry: a framework. 23095776 - Advanced cytoreductive surgery workshop report. 17199146 - Integrating ethics into technical courses: micro-insertion. 21528736 - What makes a real man? gender norms and western australia v. ah [2010] wasca 172. 3365476 - From impartial expert to adversary in the wake of ake. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Medical education Volume: 44 ISSN: 1365-2923 ISO Abbreviation: Med Educ Publication Date: 2010 Sep |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2010-08-18 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 7605655 Medline TA: Med Educ Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 864-73 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Paediatrics, E-Da Hospital, Jiau-Shu Tsuen, Yanchao Township, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan. tsaitc2003@gmail.com |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
|
Med Educ. 2010 Sep;44(9):851-2
[PMID:
20716094
]
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Education for health professionals in the emerging market economies: a literature review.
Next Document: Checking the checklist: a content analysis of expert- and evidence-based case-specific checklist ite...