ADVANCED TRAINING IN BIOMEDICAL ETHICS - A CURRICULUM IN CLINICAL SPECIALTY PROGRAMS

Medical ethics play an essential role in the practice of medicine, in the care of individual patients, in the allocation of health care reso urces, and in the formulation of health care policy. A specific body o f knowledge, 'biomedical ethics', has developed which applies ethical theory to biomedical practice. This has provided doctors with tools sy stematically to integrate rational ethical analysis into clinical deci sion-making. Training in the discipline of biomedical ethics is now re quired for all doctors in Canada. The goals, content areas, learning o bjectives, and learning methods considered appropriate for advanced tr aining in this field for medical specialists are provided in this pape r Six topic areas are discussed: introduction to ethical theory, clini cal ethics, professional ethics, ethics of human experimentation, ethi cs of health policy, and independent study. Ways this curriculum could be organized and evaluated are also offered.