Relevance and utility of courses in medical ethics. A survey of physicians' perceptions
E. D. Pellegrino, R. J. Hart Jr, S. R. Henderson, S. E. Loeb and G. Edwards
In the last decade the teaching of medical ethics has become almost
universal in American medical schools. Its effectiveness is, however, just
beginning to be evaluated. A stratified random sample of 3,000 practicing
physicians who were graduated between 1974 and 1978 was surveyed to
evaluate their perceptions of the utility and relevance of medical ethics
teaching. Those who had courses in medical ethics perceived it to be of
substantial benefit in confronting the actual ethical issues they
encountered in daily practice. They favored the continuation and expansion
of the teaching of medical ethics and had suggestions for its improvement.
Data were also obtained on the relative frequency of specific ethical
issues in practices and on the relative influence of home, personal values,
medical education, medical practice, and ethics courses on respondents'
approaches to ethical issues.
