Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:19:49.978Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Current State of Medical School Education in Bioethics, Health Law, and Health Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Govind C. Persad ,
Linden Elder ,
Laura Sedig ,
Leonardo Flores  and
Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The standards for medical education in the United States now go above and beyond traditional basic science and clinical subjects. Bioethics, health law, and health economics are recognized as important parts of translating physicians’ technical competence in medicine into effective research, administration, and medical care for patients. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which establishes certification requirements for medical schools, requires all medical schools to include bioethics in their curricula. Furthermore, issues such as the growth of genetic testing, end-of-life decision making for a burgeoning elderly population, confidentiality in the era of electronic medical records, and allocation of scarce medical resources make bioethics training clearly necessary for physicians. Although 16 percent of the United States GDP is devoted to health care, the LCME does not currently mandate training in health law or health economics. Furthermore, as the Schiavo case and HIPAA remind us, legal directives influence medical practice in areas such as billing, confidentiality, and end-of-life care.

Type
Independent
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , Spring 2008 , pp. 89 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barzansky, B. Etzel, S. I., “Educational Programs in US Medical Schools, 2002–2003,” JAMA 290, no. 9 (2003): 1190–1196, at 1190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ad Hoc Committee of Deans, Educating Doctors to Provide High Quality Medical Care: A Vision for Medical Education in the United States (Washington, D.C.: Association of American Medical Colleges, 2004); Jamshidi, H. R. Cook, D. A., “Some Thoughts on Medical Education in the Twenty-First Century,” Medical Teacher 25, no. 3 (2003): 229–238; Project Panel on the General Professional Education of the Physician and College Preparation for Medicine, “Physicians for the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of Medical Education 59, no. 11 (1984): 1–31.Google Scholar
Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Accreditation Standards, available at <http://www.lcme.org/standards.htm> (last visited December 7, 2007).+(last+visited+December+7,+2007).>Google Scholar
Borger, C. Smith, S. Truffer, C. Keehan, S. Sisko, A. Poisal, J. et al., “Health Spending Projections Through 2015: Changes on the Horizon,” Health Affairs 25, no. 2 (2006): w61–w73, at w61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feld, A. D., “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Its Broad Effect on Practice,” American Journal of Gastroenterology 100, no. 7 (2005): 1440–1443; Bloche, M. G., “The Supreme Court and the Purposes of Medicine,” New England Journal of Medicine 354 (2006): 993–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitcomb, M.E., “The General Professional Education of the Physician,” Academic Medicine 81, no. 12 (2006): 1015–1016; Emanuel, E. J., “Changing Premed Requirements and the Medical Curriculum,” JAMA 296, no. 9 (2006): 1128–1131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitcomb, M. E. Anderson, M. B., “Transformation of Medical Students' Education: Work in Progress and Continuing Challenges,” Academic Medicine 74, no. 10 (1999): 1076–1079.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverberg, L. I., “Survey of Medical Ethics in US Medical Schools: A Descriptive Study,” Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 100, no. 6 (2000): 373–378; DuBois, J. M. Burkemper, J., “Ethics Education in U.S. Medical Schools: A Study of Syllabi,” Academic Medicine 77, no. 5 (2002): 432–437; Lehmann, L. S. Kasoff, W. S. Koch, P. Federman, D. D., “A Survey of Medical Ethics Education at U.S. and Canadian Medical Schools,” Academic Medicine 79, no. 7 (2004): 682–689.Google Scholar
Eckles, R. E. Meslin, E. M. Gaffney, M. Helft, P. R., “Medical Ethics Education: Where are We? Where Should We be Going? A Review,” Academic Medicine 80, no. 12 (2005): 1143–1152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Silverberg, , supra note 8.Google Scholar
See Eckles, et al., supra note 9.Google Scholar
See Silverberg, , supra note 8.Google Scholar
Williams, P. C. Winslade, W., “Educating Medical Students about Law and the Legal System,” Academic Medicine 70, no. 9 (1995): 777–786.Google Scholar
Olick, R. S., “It's Ethical, but is it Legal? Teaching Ethics and Law in the Medical School Curriculum,” Anatomical Record 265, no. 1 (2001): 5–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Association of Medical Colleges, Number of U.S. Medical Schools Teaching Selected Topics, 2004–05, available at <http://services.aamc.org/currdir/section2/04_05hottopics.pdf> (last visited February 2, 2007).+(last+visited+February+2,+2007).>Google Scholar
Barzansky, B. Etzel, S. I., “Medical Schools in the United States, 2005–2006,” JAMA 296 (2006): 1147–1152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Barzansky, Etzel, , supra note 1.Google Scholar
See Lehmann, , supra note 8.Google Scholar
See American Association of Medical Colleges, supra note 15.Google Scholar
See Williams, Winslade, , supra note 13.Google Scholar
See Olick, , supra note 14.Google Scholar
See Silverberg, , supra note 8.Google Scholar