CLARIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP OF MEDICAL-EDUCATION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Purpose. To assess the development of the moral reasoning skills of me dical students through the course of their education, and to determine whether their scores would reflect the increases usually found at thi s age range and education level. Method. Using Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT), the authors assessed the moral reasoning of a total of 95 Texas A&M medical students from the classes of 1991-94 at the beginnin g of their first semester, at the end of a required first-semester med ical ethics course, and at the end of the students' fourth year. Resul ts. The mean score on the first test was 47.7; on the second, 53.7; an d on the third, 56.5. The +6.0 change in mean scores from the first to second test was statistically significant (p < .0001), as was the +8. 8 change from the first to final test (p < .0001). The +2.8 change fro m the second to final test was also significant, although at a lower l evel (p < .0302). Analysis revealed no significant correlation between moral reasoning scores and age; however, there was a significant corr elation between moral reasoning scores and sex, with women scoring hig her than men on all three tests. Conclusion. While data from the curre nt study seem to contradict earlier findings that medical education in hibits an increase in moral reasoning skills, the current findings may alternatively be interpreted as resulting mainly from the required fi rst-semester medical ethics course, which involved small-group discuss ion of moral dilemmas, an educational method shown elsewhere to be eff ective in enhancing moral reasoning skills.