ETHICS IN THE CLINIC - A COMPARISON OF 2 DUTCH TEACHING PROGRAMS

This paper compares ethics programmes in clinical education in two med ical schools in the Netherlands. Ethics education in the University of Maastricht is case oriented, whereas the emphasis in ethics teaching in the Catholic University of Nijmegen is focused on the methods of et hics and moral reasoning. The general objectives, format and evaluatio n are discussed. Both programmes assume that in clinical decision-maki ng normative and technical issues are intertwined; if a normative dime nsion is intrinsic to medical practice itself, students should learn d uring clinical training how to explicate and evaluate the moral quanda ries of their profession. The positive characteristics of the Maastric ht programme (student-centred approach, relevant cases, team-teaching of ethicist and clinician), if combined with those of the Nijmegen pro gramme (a coherent theoretical framework and method for case analysis and interpretation), would create a new, powerful model for clinical e thics teaching. In a recent report such a model is advocated for all D utch medical schools.