Systematic development and refinement of a contextually relevant strategy for undergraduate medical ethics education: a qualitative study

Teaching medical ethics and medical professionalism in Saudi public and private medical schools

Medical ethics and professionalism are two essential parts of building up the identity of a competent physician. This study was conducted to determine the nature, content, and methods of medical ethics and professionalism education in Saudi public and private medical schools. It also sought to identify the challenges and obstacles in teaching and assessing medical ethics and professionalism and suggest appropriate changes. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi private and public medical schools. To achieve the study's aim, an assessment tool in the form of a novel self-administered questionnaire was developed, piloted, and then used. A representative from each of the 28 Saudi medical schools participated in the study. Twenty-four (82.1%) responding medical schools have no medical ethics department. Most of the medical schools (64.2%) have 25% or less of their faculty staff who teach ethics holding a qualification in medical ethics. Most schools have a specific course for medical ethics and professionalism (85.7% and 57.1%, respectively). Multiple-choice questioning is the most popular assessment method in medical ethics and professionalism courses (89.3% and 60.7%, respectively). The need for more qualified staff and clear guidelines/resources is a significant drawback to the teaching of medical ethics. Therefore, the study recommends developing national guidelines dedicated to the undergraduate teaching curriculum from which courses would be designed to enhance medical ethics and medical professionalism.

Ethics education to support ethical competence learning in healthcare: an integrative systematic review

Background

Ethical problems in everyday healthcare work emerge for many reasons and constitute threats to ethical values. If these threats are not managed appropriately, there is a risk that the patient may be inflicted with moral harm or injury, while healthcare professionals are at risk of feeling moral distress. Therefore, it is essential to support the learning and development of ethical competencies among healthcare professionals and students. The aim of this study was to explore the available literature regarding ethics education that promotes ethical competence learning for healthcare professionals and students undergoing training in healthcare professions.

Methods

In this integrative systematic review, literature was searched within the PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases using the search terms ‘health personnel’, ‘students’, ‘ethics’, ‘moral’, ‘simulation’, and ‘teaching’. In total, 40 articles were selected for review. These articles included professionals from various healthcare professions and students who trained in these professions as subjects. The articles described participation in various forms of ethics education. Data were extracted and synthesised using thematic analysis.

Results

The review identified the need for support to make ethical competence learning possible, which in the long run was considered to promote the ability to manage ethical problems. Ethical competence learning was found to be helpful to healthcare professionals and students in drawing attention to ethical problems that they were not previously aware of. Dealing with ethical problems is primarily about reasoning about what is right and in the patient’s best interests, along with making decisions about what needs to be done in a specific situation.

Conclusions

The review identified different designs and course content for ethics education to support ethical competence learning. The findings could be used to develop healthcare professionals’ and students’ readiness and capabilities to recognise as well as to respond appropriately to ethically problematic work situations.

Blockchain and Higher Education Diplomas

Due to added mobility and the increase in international students worldwide, as well as the current problem regarding the counterfeiting of diplomas and the selling of fraudulent certificates, we propose a technological solution. Namely, to ally blockchain technology to higher education certificates and diplomas, to make the process of checking for academic qualifications more facilitated and transparent. Employers of graduates, as well as higher education institutions which evaluate course applicants, would benefit. Perhaps equally as important, students applying for international degree programs would have their lives simplified. There is an increased pressure to ensure the legitimacy and authenticity of certifications and diplomas-and preferably without the current "hassle" of getting diplomas recognized by official entities. New technological advances, with the development of blockchain and smart contracts, with their characteristics of immutability, decentralization, security, traceability, and consensus, may be considered an excellent match to implement a robust and reliable anti-fraud solution to issue digital diplomas. Radical innovations, such as linking blockchain and higher education diplomas, involve significant change and novelty. Linking blockchain and higher education diplomas could potentially positively impact and benefit millions of people worldwide, especially the younger generations. This study involved a literature review and the searching of the Scopus database (refereed publications) for the following concepts: blockchain and diploma. Existing literature is recent, with most articles (25) published between 2019 and 2020, with 4 in 2018 and only 1 in 2017. This was aligned with our expectations since the development of blockchain utilization outside financial and crypto-assets industries is recent, and it is known as "Blockchain 3.0". We can additionally affirm that the topic is attracting attention and efforts from researchers worldwide and that some higher education institutions have already implemented ad hoc solutions. As it is, the sector lacks a unified response to the problem of automatic and reliable higher education diploma certification.