Do medical schools need to deal with ethical issues differently now?
Medical school curricula have come a long way during the past 10 or 15 years. The University of Manitoba teaches basic ethics principles during the first six weeks through one-hour lectures and one-hour tutorials by philosophy students and physicians interested in ethics. During the next two years of the curriculum, ethical aspects are embedded within specific clinical specialties. In third and fourth years, students have to explicitly identify major ethical considerations contributing to clinical decisions. 9. Our Medical Post-mdPassport survey found a majority of physicians believe in non-therapeutic abortion and would refer a patient for an abortion. Has your panel seen indications of this? We haven’t talked about abortion in terms of percentages, but the proportions cited in your survey aren’t surprising. There’s still a minority who would not refer, and many practising physicians feel it’s a woman’s choice. The CMA supports the identifiable minority who do not agree with abortion.
