Abstract

Is the bioethics education given hospital ethics committee members during their orientation period adequate for the committee's purpose? To address this problem statement on adequacy of ethics education, this research study posed three questions: Do ethics committee members judge their bioethical education during orientation adequate for their deliberation and decision making? What theories, concepts and terms should be included in a core curriculum for hospital ethics education? What hierarchical ranking should these elements have in the design of the curriculum? The data were collected through questionnaires given ethics committee members in the eight participating hospitals in the KIPDA region. Fifty-five percent of hospital ethics committee members participated in the study by completing the questionnaire. The results indicated that 57% of participants judged themselves inadequately prepared for case consultation/review. Fifty-four percent of participants judged themselves unprepared to adequately address any of the three functions of the committee, and 57% judged the same on giving any advice on ethical matters. Educational elements for the core ethics curriculum were selected by the respondents and ranked for the design in the following order of importance: Ethics Committee Functions and Obligations; Foregoing Treatment; Philosophical Principles; Brain Death and Implications; Laws, Culture and Public Policy Issues; Process Elements and Perspectives of Committee Activities; History of Bioethics. ;The establishment of a semi-annual bioethics symposium, sponsored by the Jefferson County Medical Society's Bioethics Consortium, or some other similar organization, was recommended by the study. This symposium would address the committee members' educational needs for ethics training at the beginning and more advanced levels. To do so, it would utilize the improved educational training format and the redesigned core curriculum highlighted in the study. The former was recommended to ensure a more prepared, dedicated and knowledgeable committee member and the latter, to ensure a practical, reality-oriented approach to resolving bioethical dilemmas.