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...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
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 |
_version_ | 1797266393986498560 |
---|---|
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. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-07T16:29:03Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-ef20bc51e01c4d0289488e2e536be2a2 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1932-6203 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:59:59Z |
publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
record_format | Article |
series | PLoS ONE |
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 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mohammedalrukban teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools AT fahadalajlan teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools AT alialnasser teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools AT hishamalmousa teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools AT sulaimanalzomia teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools AT abdullahalmushawah teachingmedicalethicsandmedicalprofessionalisminsaudipublicandprivatemedicalschools |