Graduate Medical Education Ethics Course

(Web-based education)

To provide the groundwork for necessary ethics education in graduate medical education, the UAMS College of Medicine (COM) through the Office of Graduate Medical Education (OGME), with assistance by the Office of Educational Development (OED) and the Division of Medical Humanities (DMH), requires all residents and fellows to complete several web-based ethics education modules (using WebCT software).  These modules cover

• Why ethics?
• Consent issues
• Confidentiality
• Goals and Limits of Care
• End of Life Issues
• Medical Errors and Truth-telling
• Resource Allocation
• Research

Each of the modules consists of learning objectives, content information, selected references, a brief quiz on the content.  Additional links to other web sites focusing on the topic are included as well.  Residents are able to view their records, allowing them to monitor their progress through the course, to interact with the instructor or other residents via an e-mail link, and to return quickly to the current module from which they were last active, all from the Home page.

While the web-based course provides useful but limited education on these basic ethical concepts and issues, it is not intended to replace current ethics services and teaching efforts at UAMS.  This course ensures that all residents receive information from the ethics core curriculum, but each residency and fellowship are responsible for discipline-specific ethics training.

The current course content was developed by D. Micah Hester, PhD (in DMH) and assisted by persons both in the OGME and OED.  Questions about the course content may be directed to Dr. Hester.  Concerns about quiz scores, course passage or other GME curricular matters can be addressed by OGME.