TEACHING ETHICS IN FRENCH MEDICAL-SCHOOLS - EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION

Ethics was introduced as subject matter in French medical schools only recently despite a rich historical context where scientific legitimac y, humanistic exigencies and anglo-saxon influence have all played a r ole. Ten years after the thesis presented by Bastian in 1986, a survey of French medical schools shows that ethics has become an integral pa rt of the curriculum. Ethics has tended to become a discipline on its own, separate from law and deontology. However, the lack of specific c ourses on concentration in the first years of the curriculum show that there is much room for growth in the discipline of medical ethics. (C ) 1998, Masson, Paris.