Assessing ethics and law in medical schools: there is no single best answer.

Medical ethics and law (MEL) have a well-established place in medical curricula within the UK, but appropriately assessing MEL in a medical school context can be extremely challenging. The Institute of Medical Ethics convened a working group focused on assessment in 2021, and in this article, we present a summary of the work undertaken by this group. We start by explaining the challenges presented by the assessment of MEL, highlighting the potentially demanding requirements set out by the General Medical Council in the UK.

Ethics - A matter of principle?

Discussion of bioethical issues using the four principles approach proposed by Beauchamp and Childress is now standard practice in the UK. This paper first documents the history of principlism before considering its impact and reviewing some criticisms of the approach. A future paper will examine some of the philosophical difficulties arising from principlism in greater depth.

Ethics - A matter of principle?Part 2: Rationality, ends, and the levels of moral discourse.

Discussion of bioethical issues using four principles approach proposed by Beauchamp and Childress is now standard practice in the UK. An earlier paper documented the history of principlism before considering its impact and reviewing some criticisms of the approach. This paper will examine some of the philosophical difficulties in greater depth.

Guest Editorial - Moral injury in acute medicine.

Recently I had to have a few minutes in my office to regroup after I'd seen a patient. I didn't quite know how to process my feelings. I was feeling ashamed and upset.