Trust in Professional Integrity: Second-year medical students define "ethics"

This post is an adjunct to the Trust in Professional Integrity series. It supports particularly the 2nd of the four posts where I *ahem* define professional integrity. I do have these "definitions of ethics" publicly available in the "library" of my PhD website. I post them there for the students to access, to see the final product of their class discussions.

I share with you these definition of "ethics" by second year Monash medical students (2013). These definitions come from students who have had four two-hour facilitated tutorials (me as the facilitator) on "ethics". In the final of the four sessions, I ask the students to write down their definition of "ethics". I do this at the beginning of the four sessions too, but this early set of definitions is used to facilitate discussion over the four sessions.

Because of the way we assess students, by exam mostly, the recall of learned knowledge, I felt obliged to have students practice "writing". They have only two or three minutes in class to summarise hours of discussion into no more than two sentences (given a short answer question on "ethics" is worth two marks). Like me, I think any reader will be impressed with what the students have come up with here. Do I have a favourite definition? You tell me your favourite, then i'll tell you mine ;)

@MDPStudy

What is ethics?

Ethics is a concept that involves considering the most humanitarian or caring method of acting. In medicine, it involves ensuring that decisions are influenced by what is best for the patient.

Ethics is about an awareness that your perspective of a situation is coloured by your experiences, attitudes and beliefs. Thus, it emphasises the importance in analysing your decisions and empathising with the ideas of others in the same situation even if they differ.

Ethics is the decisions made on a daily basis and the values, beliefs and morals that drove these decisions. It relates to empathising with others and should drive these choices also.

Ethics is the framework around which all of our decisions, both everyday decisions and medical ones are based. It relies on each of our morals, values and principles to form calculated decisions about what we believe to be right.

Ethics is an understanding of the different perspectives and situations that people live and work in, and the application of this to our decisions and world views.

Ethics is about understanding that different people have various interpretations of the same thing and putting that into practice. It is about appreciating and respecting people’s preferences and choices about their lifestyle and health.

Ethics is having empathy for others while putting yourself in others shoes.

Ethics are the moral principles that govern everyday life. They comprise the personal principles that an individual lives by and makes their decisions by. Ethics are influenced by the environment a person lives in as well as the people they meet and other ethical frameworks they encounter.

Conducting yourself in a manner that benefits the patient, does not harm the patient and in the best interests of the patient.

Autonomy
Beneficence
Justice
No harm

Ethics is the consideration of the many interconnecting values that underlie every human thought, action and decision. These values stem from basic moral principles that, although subjective, are shared by most individuals.

In relation to medicine it is how much information must be disclosed by the medical practitioner in order to be completely transparent with the patients so they can make an informed, autonomous decision.

Ethics is the process of applying empathy in decision making processes.

Ethics is a concept describing how we go about making decisions by taking into account the circumstances of other individuals and following our own set of moral codes.

An individuals morals and values as influenced by their environment, culture, religion etc. Ethics refers to an individuals integrity and moral compass.

To perform humanely even if it is not bounded by law. Justice, fair, transparent. To find a collegial solution (not simply a decision). Outcome for greater good. Recognise our values/bias on interpretation and judgement.

Ethics in a set of moral principles that guide us in relation to decisions that are…..

Being aware of ones own values and bias and others and making objective judgements about it is in our behaviour and decisions. Core values – autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice.

Framework of morals that guides behaviour and decisions.

A set of morals, principles, beliefs, and ideas which aid in guiding out actions be it good or bad.

Ethics is the culmination of ones rules and moral ideals.

Set of guidelines to guide society towards certain moral values.

A personal interpretation on and application of legal and moral issues based on personal knowledge, experience and culture.

Ethics is about fulfilling responsibilities in a personal sense as a member of society and in a professional sense as the provider of a service.

Ethics is being aware of ones self-bias. It is about following a moral compass to guide you to the more appropriate course of action in a given circumstance.

Ethics is a tool used to guide our choices and decision-making. Whereas law distinguishes between legal and illegal actions, ethics provides models which allow us to critique our thinking and better understand accepted codes of conduct within society.

Ethics is the moral compass an individual bases his/her choices on. This moral compass has been shaped by an individuals distinct/unique experiences, culture, up-brining and beliefs.

@MDPStudy
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