Ethics education is recognized as an integral component of health professionals’ education and has been occurring in various guises in the curricula of health professional training in many countries since at least the 1970s. However, there are a number of different aims and approaches adopted by individual educators, programs, and, importantly, different health professions that may be characterized according to strands or trends in ethics education.

Health science students frequently experience ethical dilemmas on clinical placements, yet ethics education rarely prepares students with the ethical leadership skills required. The Leadership in Ethical Practice (LEP) program is an ethics education resource designed to enhance health science students’ knowledge and skills in ethical leadership to prepare them for clinical placements and future professional practice. This qualitative study aimed: to explore the nature of students’ ethical leadership goals; determine whether a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) format was (...) an effective tool for students to create ethical leadership goals; and identify any changes in students’ pre- and post-self-ratings of ethical leadership knowledge following the LEP program. Eighty-two diagnostic radiography students from the University of Sydney participated in the study. Inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis (Elo & Kyngas, 2008) were used to explore students’ goals. Descriptive statistics were used to investigate students’ pre- and post-self-ratings. Four themes emerged from students’ goals: initiative, competence, and courage in ethical reasoning; communicating ethical stories through listening, questioning, and connecting; reflecting and growing as an ethical leader; and safe practice and person-centred outcomes. SMART goal format elements were evident in 61% of students’ goals. Students' ethical leadership self-ratings showed positive changes after participating in the LEP program. Findings indicated students planned to further develop ethical leadership skills during clinical placements and future professional practice. This study demonstrated the ethics education approaches used within the LEP could assist health science students to apply ethical leadership in future clinical practice. (shrink)

Professional ethics is an important skill for professionals who work in the area of health. For speech-language pathologists specifically, the constant widening of the field of practice and the increasing complexity of the needs of the aging population expose professionals to more ethical questioning. Yet, the scientific literature demonstrates that speech-language pathologists do not feel properly prepared to solve ethical issues. The main objective of this study was to examine the situation of ethics training in all Canadian programs that offer (...) speech language pathology training. In order to meet this objective, a survey was sent to the directors of the eleven Canadian university programs in speech-language pathology. Three programs responded to the survey. The main results obtained suggest that professional ethics is a subject taught within different courses in Canadian university speech-language programs. Nevertheless, the percentage dedicated to ethics inside the courses is low and difficult to clearly estimate. These results shed light on the quantity and quality of professional ethics courses offered in the various Canadian speech-language programs, as well as on the teaching methods used. (shrink)