Say you are a physician taking care of a patient in need of a blood transfusion. The patient refuses the blood transfusion on religious grounds, but you know that if he does not get the blood, he may die. What do you do?
Ethical dilemmas like this may arise in clinical practice and can be challenging to navigate. Oftentimes, there is a not a single right answer to such dilemmas. So how can you prepare for ethical scenarios you may encounter in medical school and in your future practice?
Developing a basic understanding before you walk into these situations can help you know what to expect. Here are four ways an ethics course can prepare premed students for medical school.
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1. Gain a framework for ethical challenges: While a course cannot offer clear-cut answers to problems like the one presented above, it can provide a framework to help you better understand the situation, break it down into tangible components and identify the conflicting issues that must be weighed against each other.
If you apply a medical ethics lens to the above circumstance, you may see that on the one hand, you have an obligation to respect this patient’s autonomy or his inherent right to make decisions about what, if any, medical treatment he should receive.
On the other hand, you have a responsibility as a physician to maximize good and minimize harm, which by most standards is to restore the patient’s health by giving him a blood transfusion.
Once you have identified these conflicting interests, you can more systematically weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision.
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2. Build empathy and communication skills: A course in medical ethics could also make you a more empathetic provider and better communicator with patients and peers.
In the example above, the framework that medical ethics provides can help you communicate with the patient that while you want to restore his health, you also want to respect his autonomy or desire to make decisions about his health.
In doing so, you will create an environment where you establish a stronger connection with that patient, come across as empathetic and more effectively work together to arrive at a solution.
A medical ethics course is also a good opportunity to understand the pros and cons of contested issues such as abortion and euthanasia. If you are for abortion or against euthanasia, such a course can help you gain a greater appreciation for why others may hold opposing views.
A respect for views that are different than yours is important in medical school and enables greater engagement in discussions with peers who have opposing views.
[Learn how to grow communication skills for med school admissions success.]
3. Instill a greater sense of social responsibility: One of the key issues discussed in medical ethics is justice. We know that medical care is a valuable and limited resource. How can we provide care to patients in a way that is fair and equitable?
Medical ethics will help you better understand how the concept of justice ties into health care delivery and the equitable distribution of medical care. Virtually every physician is confronted with questions related to justice on a daily basis.
For example, should a physician spend more time with each patient at the expense of seeing fewer patients who need care? Should a physician replace older, less expensive medical technologies in his or her practice for newer and more cutting-edge ones, knowing that some patients may not be able to afford those newer technologies? How should a physician weigh the practical considerations of financially sustaining a medical practice against his or her obligation to provide care for those who are unable to pay?
Taking a medical ethics course early in your journey will give you a chance to appreciate such issues and tackle them more effectively as you begin taking part in patient care during medical school and after graduation.
4. Grow research skills: If you are considering a medical career that involves research or if you intend to conduct research in medical school, a medical ethics course will give you a greater appreciation of the issues you may have to consider.
Let’s assume you are designing a research study to investigate the effects of a new drug or procedure on patients. A medical ethics course will help you consider important ethical questions when designing such a study.
For example, can the intervention cause harm to the study participants, and if so, what measures are you taking to minimize potential harm to patients? Are the individuals who are enrolling in your study fully aware of the risks and benefits of their participation? Have you taken all necessary measures to ensure that patients are not being coerced into participating in the study? Are there mechanisms in place to guarantee that patient data are protected?
Considering these issues will make you a more responsible and ethical researcher.
Studying medical ethics by taking a course as a premed student can help you become more systematic, conscientious and responsible when caring for patients or conducting research. However, it is not sufficient to just take a course. It is important to stay engaged by reading up on ethical issues in current events, engaging in discussions with peers and constantly considering the ethical implications during clinical encounters.
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4 Ways an Ethics Course Can Prepare You for Medical School originally appeared on usnews.com
