D Savitha, Vaz Manjulika, Vaz Mario
Department of Physiology, St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India; and
Health & Humanities Division, St. John's Research Institute, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2017 Jun 1;41(2):306-311. doi: 10.1152/advan.00183.2016.
Integrating medical ethics into the physiology teaching-learning program has been largely unexplored in India. The objective of this exercise was to introduce an interactive and integrated ethics program into the Physiology course of first-year medical students and to evaluate their perceptions. Sixty medical students (30 men, 30 women) underwent 11 sessions over a 7-mo period. Two of the Physiology faculty conducted these sessions (20-30 min each) during the routine physiology (theory/practicals) classes that were of shorter duration and could, therefore, accommodate the discussion of related ethical issues. This exercise was in addition to the separate ethics classes conducted by the Medical Ethics department. The sessions were open ended, student centered, and designed to stimulate critical thinking. The students' perceptions were obtained through a semistructured questionnaire and focused group discussions. The students found the program unique, thought provoking, fully integrated, and relevant. It seldom interfered with the physiology teaching. They felt that the program sensitized them about ethical issues and prepared them for their clinical years, to be "ethical doctors." Neutral observers who evaluated each session felt that the integrated program was relevant to the preclinical year and that the program was appropriate in its content, delivery, and student involvement. An ethics course taught in integration with Physiology curriculum was found to be beneficial, feasible, and compatible with Physiology by students as well as neutral observers.
在印度，将医学伦理学融入生理学教学计划在很大程度上尚未得到探索。本活动的目的是在一年级医学生的生理学课程中引入一个互动式的综合伦理学计划，并评估他们的看法。60名医学生（30名男性，30名女性）在7个月的时间里参加了11次课程。其中两名生理学教师在常规生理学（理论/实践）课程期间进行这些课程（每次20 - 30分钟），这些课程时长较短，因此能够安排相关伦理问题的讨论。此活动是在医学伦理学系单独开设的伦理学课程之外进行的。这些课程是开放式的、以学生为中心的，旨在激发批判性思维。通过半结构化问卷和焦点小组讨论获取学生的看法。学生们认为该计划独特、发人深省、完全融合且相关。它很少干扰生理学教学。他们觉得该计划使他们对伦理问题敏感起来，并为临床学习做好准备，成为“有道德的医生”。评估每次课程的中立观察者认为，综合计划与临床前一年相关，并且该计划在内容、授课方式和学生参与方面都很合适。学生以及中立观察者都发现，与生理学课程相结合讲授的伦理学课程是有益的、可行的，并且与生理学相兼容。
