title: Ethics teaching on 'Beginning of Life' issues in UK medical schools.
abstract: Medical ethics forms an essential component of an undergraduate medical programme. In the UK the Institute of Medical Ethics has released a consensus statement detailing its recommendations for a minimum curriculum for ethics. One important issue it highlights for inclusion is 'Beginning of Life', which includes a wide range of themes. This paper presents an evaluation of the current teaching and assessment of these important issues in UK medical schools, complemented by a specific analysis of students' reaction to the teaching they received at the University of Edinburgh as part of their Obstetrics and Gynaecology rotation. Schools which responded to the survey reported a wide range of teaching and assessment methods. While there was a good overall coverage of topics, only one of them was covered by every institution and the religious/cultural elements of those topics were often neglected. The medical schools viewed better clinical integration of ethics teaching as the best route to improvement, but the students reported a desire for more ethics teaching in the form of specific tutorials, lectures or discussions. It is likely that a combination of these approaches will lead to significant improvements in the delivery of ethics teaching in this area and in others.
authors: The University of Edinburgh, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Edinburgh, UK.
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: Oldroyd
authors: Centre for Medical Education, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors: Lydie
authors: L
authors: Fialova
mesh_terms: D033421:Beginning of Human Life / Q000941:ethics*; D032921:Consensus; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D012606:Scotland; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Abortion; Education; Ethics; Obstetrics and Gynaecology