TEACHING ETHICS IN PSYCHIATRY - A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP FOR CLINICAL STUDENTS

In this paper we describe the objectives of teaching medical ethics to undergraduates and the teaching methods used. We describe a workshop used in the University of Liverpool Department of Psychiatry, designed to enhance ethical sensitivity in psychiatry. The workshop reviews si gnificant historical and current errors in the ethical practice of psy chiatry and doctors' defence mechanisms against accepting responsibili ty for deficiencies in ethical practice. the workshop explores the stu dent doctors' own group ethos in response to ethical dilemmas, and dem onstrates how the individual contributes to and is responsible for the group ethos through participation and also through non-participation. The student feedback about the workshop is reviewed. The Toronto Ethi cal Sensitivity Instrument was used to assess whether or not the works hop altered sensitivity. Compared to a control group the attenders' se nsitivity was significantly increased (on Student's t-test p equals or is less than 0.002).