The New Zealand Report of the cervical cancer inquiry: significance for medical education.

The New Zealand Cervical Cancer Inquiry has elicited considerable interest in Australia as well as in New Zealand. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the future practice of medicine with regard to the relevance of the Inquiry's findings for medical education, although it did recommend the incorporation of ethics teaching into all stages of the medical curriculum, and also urged that attention be paid to communication skills within the curriculum. In this article, I argue that medical ethics teaching should be seen as an essential part of the medical curriculum, with the teaching being integrated closely with the other disciplines that comprise the medical course. To illustrate one possible approach, I have outlined elements of current ethics teaching at the University of Otago. I also have raised what I regard as wider issues for the medical curriculum. These include the need for students to develop a critical facility and an ability to handle conflicting data and attitudes (fostered principally by an understanding of research methods), to appreciate the importance of accountability (fostered in part through group learning activities) and to be aware of the impact of community concerns on the practice of medicine. Another issue which I consider is raised indirectly by the Inquiry concerns the procedures that are used for the selection of students into medical courses.