1. Capacity Building in Postgraduate Ethics Education
Saima Akhtar
Feb 5, 2008

2. Postgraduate Ethics Education
Background
Survey
Results
Discussion

3. Background Initial effort to increase bioethics teaching capacity
Goal was to identify an “ethics champion” in each department
Needs assessment of resident’s ethics education

4. Survey Residency program Dept. of Family Medicine Dept of Pediatrics
Dept of Medicine
Dept of Anesthesia
Dept of Radiology
Dept of Ophthalmology
Dept of Pathology
Dept of Psychiatry
Dept of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Dept of Surgery

5. Survey 2. What year of the program? PGY___
3. How often do you experience “ethical issues or problems” in clinical situations?
Never
Rarely
Monthly
Weekly
Daily

6. Survey 4. Are these issues: Patient-related? Faculty-related? Both?
5. How comfortable are you in dealing with these cases?
Not at all
A little
Fairly comfortable
Very comfortable

7. Survey
6. Do you have a “go-to” person for help in resolving these cases?
Yes
No Name_____________
7. Is this person an “ethical role model” for you?
No Name_____________

8. Survey
8. Are you aware of any ethics learning resources at LHSC/SJHC/UWO?
Yes No
9. Do you feel that your formal ethics education sessions are:
Adequate
Useful
Inadequate
Not pertinent

9. Survey 10. What topics in ethics would you like to learn more about?
End of life issues
Consent/capacity issues
Research ethics
Professional boundaries
Disagreements about treatment
Resource allocation/priority setting
Stem-cell research

10. Survey
11. What methods of teaching ethics are most useful or effective for you?
Formal didactic sessions
Case-based discussion
Web-based
Grand rounds
Workshops
Informal discussion

11. Results Distribution of Residents

12. Results How often do you experience “ethical issues or problems”?

13. Results These issues are…

14. Results How comfortable are you in dealing with these cases?

15. Results Do you have a “go-to” person for help with these cases?

16. Results Is this person an “ethical role model” for you?

17. Results Are you aware of ethics learning resources?

18. Results Existing ethics education sessions

19. Results What topics would you like to learn more about?

20. Results Which methods of teaching are most effective?

21. Discussion 84 residents in 3 departments
All levels of training represented
2/3 of anesthesia and ob residents flet their ethical issues related to BOTH faculty and patients and 37% FM residents
needs further research

22. Discussion
Approx half of all residents felt they did NOT have a resource person for ethical issues
Existing ethics education considered “inadequate” by half of anesthesia residents
Problem in postgrad ethics education: time and interest

23. Discussion
Most popular topic that residents want to learn more about is “disagreements about treatment”
Does this relate to “faculty related” ethical issues?
Most residents prefer case-based teaching—similar to previous findings
Plan to meet with 7 other residency groups if program directors are willing…