HEC Forum. 2020 May 13. doi: 10.1007/s10730-020-09411-x. [Epub ahead of print]

"You took an Oath!": Engaging Medical Students About the Importance of Oaths and Codes Through Film and Television.

Parsi K1, Elster N2.

Author information

1

Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA. kparsi@luc.edu.

2

Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA.

Abstract

In this paper, we will consider the role of oaths and codes of ethics in undergraduate medical education. Studies of ethics syllabi suggest that ethics educators typically use well-known bioethics texts such as Beauchamp and Childress (Principles of biomedical ethics, 8th ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2019). Yet, many issues that medical students will face (as students and as physicians) are addressed by codes of ethics and oaths. We will first provide a historical survey of oaths and codes and then address how these sources of ethical guidance can be effectively used in ethics education of medical students. Oaths and codes can be engagingly taught using a range of techniques including visual narrative. Excerpts from television and film can be used to highlight challenging ethical dilemmas in a variety of settings, taking the learning from the theoretical to the more applied while offering context.