TEACHING ETHICS IN THE CONTEXT OF GENERAL-PRACTICE

This paper describes the teaching in medical ethics provided by the De partment of General Practice during the fifth year of the undergraduat e medical course at the University of Sydney. The objectives of the se ssions are to raise awareness of the complex nature of decision-making , to encourage students to determine their own moral viewpoints on com mon controversial issues, and to provide a framework for managing comm on ethical dilemmas. This framework is considered in the light of ethi cal problems which may have arisen during the two-week general practic e attachment experienced by students prior to the ethics session. Feed back from students on the sessions is largely positive, although a num ber complain that simple answers to common problems are not provided.