NAVIGATING THE WARDS - TEACHING MEDICAL-STUDENTS TO USE THEIR MORAL COMPASSES

The upsurge in formal medical ethics training stems from the desire or more compassionate,less ''dehumanized'' physicians who can competentl y face the ethical dilemmas posed by technologic advances and resource constraints. How best to encourage ethical thinking and behavior amon g medical students remains an open question. However, the authors argu e that medical ethics education suffers from an overreliance on strate gies that target ethical thinking, with relative inattention to studen ts as ethical actors in specific clinical contexts. In order to produc e ethically competent physicians, medical educators must not only teac h students to understand and learn from the dilemmas that shape their moral world but also train them to respond to those dilemmas appropria tely. The authors discuss current practices in ethics education how tr aditional approaches may not equip students with the types of moral '' navigating skills'' they need to become ethical physicians. They illus trate how medical students can and do learn norms of ethical behavior on the wards and argue why medical education ought to focus more expli citly on this aspect of clinical training. They conclude by recommendi ng ways medical educators can encourage ethical thinking and behavior throughout the entire course of medical training.