The Challenge of Learning Ethics as a Medical Student: Synthetic Ethics as a New Approach

Over the past few decades, medical school curricula have grown to include bioethics courses, recognizing importance of ethical clinical practice [1, 2, 3]. As a student, I found that one most difficult challenges for myself and others during training has been simply learning bioethics. This project examines some issues seen in education, which stymie both knowledge uptake by students application moral thought day-to-day practice; it then suggests new approach teaching bioethics, founded what call “synthetic ethics” – being able engage reasoning is vibrant flexible, rather than dogmatic unexamined, using posed COVID-19 as case study. outline three general pedagogy curtail students’ ability synthetic ethics, informed my own experience existing literature: 1) teachers not challenging personal subjectivism, fails inculcate with character they need physicians [4]; 2) espousal hard, intransigent deontology faculty AMA [5, 6]; 3) cavalier disinterest many towards humanities [7]. all context our pluralistic society, makes approaching quandaries even more complex non-philosophers; if pluralism abandoned absolutism, we run risk imperialism [8]. The effective bioethical demonstrated scenarios like COVID pandemic: resources are stretched disease global establishment provides solutions unsatisfying, pitting basic principles against each other no resolution [9, 10]. where ethics becomes really necessary: allows us balance different cultural considerations find better patients providers. By engaging adopting Hegelian (Figure 1) resolving theoretical tensions willing bracket out overly-deontological values can combine disparate theories or their component parts, allowing address these come up solutions. close thoughts on implementation ethics: rigorous theories, emphasizing innovation out-of-the-box thinking, utilizing stimulating studies move pass/fail grading possible ways incorporate into coursework. doing so, will develop faculties problems inevitably arise careers.