title: An ethics curriculum for the pediatric residency program. Confronting barriers to implementation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The 1997 Residency Review Committee requirements in pediatrics mandate a structured curriculum in medical ethics for all accredited pediatric residency programs. To our knowledge, there are no published models for the development of an ethics curriculum for pediatric residents. Several obstacles may confront those attempting to begin an ethics teaching program.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the successful implementation of a structured ethics curriculum for pediatric residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our program was designed to overcome the following obstacles: (1) time constraints of faculty and residents, (2) scheduling difficulties and lack of continuity, (3) attitudes of residents toward the material, and (4) inadequate ethics training among faculty. In addition to traditional topics in medical ethics, the curriculum focuses on issues that confront residents primarily during their training, issues that may shape their professional values in important ways.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This ethics curriculum has been successfully implemented in our own program and offers solutions to common barriers faced by those seeking to implement an ethics curriculum for pediatric residents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present the ethics curriculum currently in use at our institution as a tool that may be adopted as it stands or as altered by others as they develop their own program's ethics curriculum. We believe the proposed curriculum directly confronts many of the barriers to successful ethics education of pediatric residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Diekema
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Shugerman
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*