Medical Ethics and Professionalism at MUSM since 12/07  Click Here To Download

LCME, Medical Ethics, and Professionalism

ED-17-A The curriculum must introduce students to the basic principles of clinical and translational research, including how such research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care. [New standard approved by the LCME in February 2007, to be effective as of July 1, 2008] The faculty should specify learning objectives (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) that will, at a minimum, equip graduates to understand the basic principles and ethics of clinical and translational research, and how such research is conducted, evaluated, and applied to the care of patients. One example of relevant objectives is contained in Report IV of the AAMC’s Medical School Objectives Project (Contemporary Issues in Medicine: Basic Science and Clinical Research).

There are several ways in which programs can meet the requirements of this standard. They range from separate required coursework in the subject, to the establishment of appropriate learning objectives and instructional activities within existing, patient-focused courses or clerkships (for example, discussing the application of new knowledge from clinical research in bedside teaching activities, offering mentored projects, or conducting journal club sessions that allow students to explore the development or application of clinical and translational research).

ED-23 A medical school must teach medical ethics and human values, and require its students to exhibit scrupulous ethical principles in caring for patients, and in relating to patients’ families and to others involved in patient care.

Each school should assure that students receive instruction in appropriate medical ethics, human values, and communication skills before engaging in patient care activities. As students take on increasingly more active roles in patient care during their progression through the curriculum, adherence to ethical principles should be observed and evaluated, and reinforced through formal instructional efforts.

In student-patient interactions there should be a means for identifying possible breaches of ethics in patient care, either through faculty/resident observation of the encounter, patient reporting, or some other appropriate method.

“Scrupulous ethical principles” imply characteristics like honesty, integrity, maintenance of confidentiality, and respect for patients, patients’ families, other students, and other health professionals. The school’s educational objectives may identify additional dimensions of ethical behavior to be exhibited in patient care settings.

It is expected that each medical school should define the professional attributes it wishes students to develop in the context of the school’s mission and the community in which it operates. Examples of professional attributes could come from such resources as the American Board of Internal Medicine Project Professionalism, or the AAMC Medical School Objectives Project. Such attributes should also be promulgated among the faculty and staff associated with the school, with suitable mechanisms available to identify and promptly correct recurring violations of professional standards. As part of their formal training, students should learn the importance of demonstrating the attributes (attitudes, behavior, professional identity) of a professional and understand the balance of privileges and obligations that the public and the profession expect of a medical doctor.

In addition to defining the attributes of professionalism expected of the academic community, the school and its faculty, staff, students, and residents should regularly assess the learning environment to identify positive and negative influences on the maintenance of professional standards and conduct, and develop appropriate strategies to enhance the positive and mitigate the negative influences.

MS-32 Each medical school must define and publicize the standards of conduct for the teacher-learner relationship, and develop written policies for addressing violations of those standards.