Beyond the Hippocratic Oath : The need for ethics courses in medical school curriculum

This thesis is an attempt to defend the movement toward implementing ethics courses into the medical school curriculum. In Chapter I, the need for ethics courses is demonstrated by the number and importance of moral and ethical concerns in the clinical setting. Factors such as technology, economics, and the changing structure of health care delivery are shown to intersect v/ith the practice of medicine, and at these intersections, moral and ethical issues can be sharply defined.

Chapter II discusses the traditional methods of dealing with medical moral concerns - adherence to codes and oaths by the physicians. Such codes and oaths are shown to be inadequate in dealing with moral issues in the medical setting and the conclusion is reached that a new approach must be implemented.

In Chapter III, formal courses in ethics are proposed as an alternative or supplement to codes of ethics. The goals of such courses are discussed, and contrasted to those goals promoted by the Hastings' Institute.

In Chapter IV, empirical evidence for the correlation of moral reasoning and moral behavior is presented. It is then concluded in this chapter that if courses in ethics focus on cultivating students' abilities to rationalize and justify their moral behavior, subsequent improvement in behavior should follow.