OUTCOMES FROM AN ONLINE ETHICS ELECTIVE

John Tomkowiak.* Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL, 60046 U.S.A.

Purpose

Learning opportunities regarding medical ethics in the preclinical years of medical school is often inhibited by the lack of exposure to clinical ethical dilemmas. Paradoxically, it is difficult to foster discussions among students in the clinical years secondary to individualized schedules and geographic separateness. A four week online ethics elective was developed to address the need.

Methods

The elective was developed using an online curriculum information management system, Desire 2 Learn. Through weekly reading assignments, students were introduced to fundamental ethical concepts. Students engaged in clinical application through required online discussions and concluded each week with a paper which reflected on their individual learning. A final paper was required in which they described their approach to a real patient ethical dilemma they had experienced, or to a clinical vignette posted by the course director.

Results

Over 70 students enrolled in the elective, which represented 38% of the students

eligible to participate. 50 students (70%) responded to a post-course survey. 86% of the respondents stated they enrolled in the course because they were curious or interested in learning more about bioethics. 94% of respondents stated that they learned new material and 96% stated that the course fostered their interest in clinical ethics. Finally, 94% stated that they would recommend the course to their colleagues.

Conclusion

Clinical ethics education delivered in the final year as an online elective appears to be a successful pedagogical method for improving students knowledge of clinical ethics and fostering their interest in this area.