Medical student communication skills and specialty choice.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if communication skills differ for medical students entering person or technique-oriented specialties.

Methods: Communication ratings by clerkship preceptors on an institutionally required end of clerkship medical student performance evaluation (SPE) form were compiled for 2011/2012 academic year (Class of 2013). M3 clerkships and the Class of 2013 match appointments were categorized as person or technique-oriented clerkships/specialties.

Ethics and professionalism preparation for psychiatrists-in-training: A curricular proposal.

Potential ethical issues and challenges to professionalism arise commonly in the care of patients with psychiatric illnesses. As such, education and training in medical ethics especially as applied to psychiatry and professionalism should be offered to trainees during the formative years of residency and fellowship. This article proposes a curriculum for senior residents and fellows that uses a case-centred seminar to discuss ethical dilemmas, approaches to analysing ethical issues, and to develop a course of action for resolution.

A review of ethics in psychiatric research.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize important recent contributions to the literature on the subject of ethics in psychiatric research.

Recent Findings: Current literature reflects an expansion in the range of psychiatric research on ethics topics. Articles continue to appear on core ethics subjects such as informed consent, but many recent contributions focus on diverse issues such as third-party privacy, the ethics of Internet-based research, revisiting the wisdom of imposing medical ethics requirements on observational research, and psychiatric research ethics as applied to special populations such as children or older persons.