Ethics training programs in the postgraduate setting (V)

Ethics training programs in the postgraduate setting (V)

Lua Jun Kiat¹, Lalit Krishna^1,2,3, Jasmine Owyong¹, Daniel Zhihao Hong^1,2, Jia Ling Goh^1,2, Nur Amira Binte Abdul Hamid¹, Yun Ting Ong^1,2, Jacquelin Jia Qi Ting^1,2, National Cancer Centre Singapore ², ³, Liverpool United Kingdom

¹National Cancer Centre Singapore Singapore
²National University of Singapore Singapore
³University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom

Abstract

The challenge of molding clinicians capable of applying ethics principles in practice is compounded by wide variations in the teaching and assessment of ethics in the postgraduate setting. Ethics training programs should recognize that despite these differences, the transition from medical students to healthcare professionals involves a longitudinal process where ethics knowledge, skills and identity continue to deepen over time with clinical exposure. A systematic scoping review of current postgraduate medical ethics training and assessment programs was proposed to guide the development of local physician training curriculum.

The Systematic Evidence Based Approach (SEBA) was adopted to create a transparent and reproducible review.

The themes identified from searches on teaching and assessing ethics were goals and objectives, content, pedagogy, enabling and limiting factors of teaching ethics and assessment modalities utilized. Ethics training programs provide a platform for learners to apply knowledge, translating it to skill and eventually becoming a part of the identity of the learner. The spiral curriculum illustrates the longitudinal nature of ethics training, seamlessly integrating and fortifying prevailing ethical knowledge acquired in medical school with layering of new specialty, clinical and research specific content in professional practice. Various assessment methods are employed, particularly portfolios as a longitudinal assessment modality that showcases the impact of ethics training on the development of professional identity.

Whilst the review has yielded key learning points in the teaching and assessment of ethics in the postgraduate setting, further exploration establishing Entrustable Professional Activities and implementing portfolios to assess ethics practice should be done.

Biography

Jun Kiat is a medical student from the National University of Singapore, and an active research mentor in the Palliative Medicine Initiative, leading projects on mentoring and professional identity formation in medicine.