title: Learning by doing: effectively incorporating ethics education into residency training.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical ethics is a critical component of the curriculum for clinical trainees. Educational initiatives should adapt content to participants' experience in order to ensure relevance and retain their interest.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop and evaluate an experiential educational program for physicians.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Senior internal medicine residents (n = 40).
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-based didactic program was designed in which each resident shared a difficult ethics case from their clinical experience. We created a curriculum around these cases involving formal didactics as well as open-ended discussion and summarized the ethical issues most relevant to the participants. A course survey was administered based upon the validated Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Common issues raised included surrogate decision-making (18 %), refusal of treatment (14 %), capacity/informed consent (10 %), and medical futility (10 %). Mean SEEQ subscale scores for learning value, organization/clarity, group interaction, breadth of coverage, and assignments/readings were 4.5 (maximum possible score 5). Residents unanimously rated the course overall as good/very good, and all agreed or strongly agreed that the course was useful and its structure effective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An experiential case-based didactic program in medical ethics engaged adult learners and facilitated a comprehensive and clinically relevant educational initiative.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College, 435 E. 70th St. Suite 4-J, New York, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Vertrees
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Shuman
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fins
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008499:Medical Records; D009518:New York; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation