Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.

Medical ethics and professionalism are two essential parts of building up the identity of a competent physician. This study was conducted to determine the nature, content, and methods of medical ethics and professionalism education in Saudi public and private medical schools. It also sought to ident...

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Main Authors: Mohammed AlRukban, Fahad Alajlan, Ali Alnasser, Hisham Almousa, Sulaiman Alzomia, Abdullah Almushawah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298605&type=printable
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author Mohammed AlRukban
Fahad Alajlan
Ali Alnasser
Hisham Almousa
Sulaiman Alzomia
Abdullah Almushawah
author_facet Mohammed AlRukban
Fahad Alajlan
Ali Alnasser
Hisham Almousa
Sulaiman Alzomia
Abdullah Almushawah
author_sort Mohammed AlRukban
collection DOAJ
description Medical ethics and professionalism are two essential parts of building up the identity of a competent physician. This study was conducted to determine the nature, content, and methods of medical ethics and professionalism education in Saudi public and private medical schools. It also sought to identify the challenges and obstacles in teaching and assessing medical ethics and professionalism and suggest appropriate changes. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi private and public medical schools. To achieve the study's aim, an assessment tool in the form of a novel self-administered questionnaire was developed, piloted, and then used. A representative from each of the 28 Saudi medical schools participated in the study. Twenty-four (82.1%) responding medical schools have no medical ethics department. Most of the medical schools (64.2%) have 25% or less of their faculty staff who teach ethics holding a qualification in medical ethics. Most schools have a specific course for medical ethics and professionalism (85.7% and 57.1%, respectively). Multiple-choice questioning is the most popular assessment method in medical ethics and professionalism courses (89.3% and 60.7%, respectively). The need for more qualified staff and clear guidelines/resources is a significant drawback to the teaching of medical ethics. Therefore, the study recommends developing national guidelines dedicated to the undergraduate teaching curriculum from which courses would be designed to enhance medical ethics and medical professionalism.
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spelling doaj.art-ef20bc51e01c4d0289488e2e536be2a22024-03-11T05:32:22ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01192e029860510.1371/journal.pone.0298605Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.Mohammed AlRukbanFahad AlajlanAli AlnasserHisham AlmousaSulaiman AlzomiaAbdullah AlmushawahMedical ethics and professionalism are two essential parts of building up the identity of a competent physician. This study was conducted to determine the nature, content, and methods of medical ethics and professionalism education in Saudi public and private medical schools. It also sought to identify the challenges and obstacles in teaching and assessing medical ethics and professionalism and suggest appropriate changes. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi private and public medical schools. To achieve the study's aim, an assessment tool in the form of a novel self-administered questionnaire was developed, piloted, and then used. A representative from each of the 28 Saudi medical schools participated in the study. Twenty-four (82.1%) responding medical schools have no medical ethics department. Most of the medical schools (64.2%) have 25% or less of their faculty staff who teach ethics holding a qualification in medical ethics. Most schools have a specific course for medical ethics and professionalism (85.7% and 57.1%, respectively). Multiple-choice questioning is the most popular assessment method in medical ethics and professionalism courses (89.3% and 60.7%, respectively). The need for more qualified staff and clear guidelines/resources is a significant drawback to the teaching of medical ethics. Therefore, the study recommends developing national guidelines dedicated to the undergraduate teaching curriculum from which courses would be designed to enhance medical ethics and medical professionalism.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298605&type=printable
spellingShingle Mohammed AlRukban
Fahad Alajlan
Ali Alnasser
Hisham Almousa
Sulaiman Alzomia
Abdullah Almushawah
Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
PLoS ONE
title Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
title_full Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
title_fullStr Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
title_full_unstemmed Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
title_short Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools.
title_sort teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in saudi public and private medical schools
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298605&type=printable
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