[A bioethics curriculum for the pediatric residency program: experience of a university hospital].

BACKGROUND

Pediatric education should be fully committed to being humanistically as well as scientifically responsive to the needs of the times. Although interest in bioethical issues in clinical practice has increased, ethical problem solving is not usually taught in residency training programs.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the implementation of a bioethics training program in our department of pediatrics.

METHODS

We designed a program that took into account the difficulties that such a program might face: time constraints, inadequate training in ethics among medical staff and, sometimes, residents' attitudes towards a formal program.

RESULTS

Throughout the last four years, six to seven ethics sessions per year were scheduled. The contents included traditional topics in medical ethics (i.e. treatment refusal in adolescents or clinical trials involving minors) as well as issues that confront residents during their training (informed consent, confidentiality, etc.). These ethics sessions were based on clinical cases and were integrated into the existing meetings timetable (daily meetings from Monday to Thursday between October and June) and were prepared by the residents themselves.

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of a bioethics component, using a modified case-based approach, in our pediatric residency program was satisfactory.