[The development of ethics. Identifying what training in medical ethics is needed by family physicians].
OBJECTIVE
To identify what training in medical ethics physician teachers need.


METHODS
Qualitative research study using a modified nominal group technique.


METHODS
Family practice units affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine at Laval University in Quebec.


METHODS
Fifty-three physician teachers in six family practice units.


METHODS
During seven meetings, the teachers shared information on clinical situations that had posed ethical problems. Data were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's method.


RESULTS
The 277 clinical situations were classified under nine themes: ethics; confidentiality; consent, refusal of treatment, and the right to information; level of care and abstention from and cessation of treatment; relationships with pharmaceutical companies and the ethics of research; ethics of teaching; allocation of resources; influence of third parties; and euthanasia and assisted suicide. Learning objectives were developed.


CONCLUSIONS
This research forms the basis of the ethics curriculum in the family medicine residency program at Laval University. It also offers a strategy for integrating ethics into daily teaching activities because the learning objectives derive directly from the concerns of the teaching faculty.
Marcoux
H
H
Département de médecine familiale, Faculté de médecine, bureau 1323, pavillon Vandry, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, QC G1K 7P4. hubert.marcoux@mfa.ulaval.ca
Lamontagne
C
C
Cayer
S
S
Desrochers
A
A
Gauthier
D
D
D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans