What do medical students think about conscientious objection? A cross-sectional study from Turkey.

Background: Physicians' refusal to perform medical procedures that they deem contrary to their conscience may threaten basic human rights and public health. This study aims to investigate the thoughts and attitudes of future physicians on conscientious objection (CO) and thus contribute to the discussions from a country more heavily influenced by Eastern values.

Methods: A cross-sectional multi-center study was conducted among medical students country-wide, where 2,188 medical students participated via an online survey.

The Effectiveness of a Hospital Ethics Committee in a Non-Western Country: Lessons from a Ten-Year Experience.

Hospital ethics committees (HECs) are relatively new in non-Western countries. This article examines the effectiveness of a HEC established in Bursa/Turkey over ten years, aiming to contribute insights for the wider implementation and enhancement of HECs. The evaluative methodology combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess its effectiveness.

[How to Defend Mandatory Immunization Against Vaccine Hesitancy and Vaccine Refusal? An Ethical Assessment].

One of the basic ethical principles in medical practice is to respect personal autonomy. However, it is a widely accepted view that when it comes to health problems that concern not only the individual but also the society, especially in epidemics of infectious diseases, individual autonomy can be violated by prioritizing the benefit of the community. This view is based on the scientific fact that epidemics can only be controlled by immunizing all susceptible individuals.

Artificial intelligence in medical education: a cross-sectional needs assessment.

Background: As the information age wanes, enabling the prevalence of the artificial intelligence age; expectations, responsibilities, and job definitions need to be redefined for those who provide services in healthcare. This study examined the perceptions of future physicians on the possible influences of artificial intelligence on medicine, and to determine the needs that might be helpful for curriculum restructuring.

Methods: A cross-sectional multi-centre study was conducted among medical students country-wide, where 3018 medical students participated.

A follow-up study on the effects of an educational intervention against pharmaceutical promotion.

Background: The promotion strategies of pharmaceutical companies create many problems including irrational prescribing, diminished trust in the patient-physician relationship and unnecessary increases in pharmaceutical costs. Educating prescribers is known to be one of the few potentially effective measures to counteract those impacts. However such educational programs are limited in the literature, and their effectiveness against the effects of hidden curriculum in the long term is unknown.

Ethical problems in an era where disasters have become a part of daily life: A qualitative study of healthcare workers in Turkey.

Background: Natural disasters, armed conflict, migration, and epidemics today occur more frequently, causing more death, displacement of people and economic loss. Their burden on health systems and healthcare workers (HCWs) is getting heavier accordingly. The ethical problems that arise in disaster settings may be different than the ones in daily practice, and can cause preventable harm or the violation of basic human rights.

Victims of disaster: can ethical debriefings be of help to care for their suffering?

Victims of disaster suffer, not only at the very moment of the disaster, but also years after the disaster has taken place, they are still in an emotional journey. While many moral perspectives focus on the moment of the disaster itself, a lot of work is to be done years after the disaster. How do people go through their suffering and how can we take care of them? Research on human suffering after a major catastrophe, using an ethics of care perspective, is scarce.

Medical Students' Opinions About the Commercialization of Healthcare: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

There are serious concerns about the commercialization of healthcare and adoption of the business approach in medicine. As market dynamics endanger established professional values, healthcare workers face more complicated ethical dilemmas in their daily practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the willingness of medical students to accept the assertions of commercialized healthcare and the factors affecting their level of agreement, factors which could influence their moral stance when market demands conflict with professional values.

Adaptation of the Critical Care Family Need Inventory to the Turkish population and its psychometric properties.

In the complex environment of intensive care units, needs of patients' relatives might be seen as the lowest priority. On the other hand, because of their patients' critical and often uncertain conditions, stress levels of relatives are quite high. This study aims to adapt the Critical Care Family Need Inventory, which assesses the needs of patients' relatives, for use with the Turkish-speaking population and to assess psychometric properties of the resulting inventory.

For what reasons do patients file a complaint? A retrospective study on patient rights units' registries.

Background: In 2004, Patient Rights Units were established in all public hospitals in Turkey to allow patients to voice their complaints about services.

Aims: To determine what violations are reflected into the complaint mechanism, the pattern over time, and patients' expectations of the services.

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Physician involvement in torture: an ethical perspective.

Evidence proves that physician involvement in torture is widely practiced in society. Despite its status as an illegal act as established by multiple international organizations, mandates are routinely unheeded and feebly enforced. Philosophies condemning and condoning torture are examined as well as physicians' professional responsibilities and the manner in which such varying allegiances can be persuasive.

Sale strategies of pharmaceutical companies in a "pharmerging" country: the problems will not improve if the gaps remain.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the types of sales strategies used by pharmaceutical companies in a "pharmerging" market and to gain insight into the ways of avoiding the negative effects of these strategies.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 physicians and company employees in the six largest cities of Turkey. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis.

Rationing healthcare: Should life-style be used as a criterion?

Health is considered as important due to its impacts on individuals' lives. Although individual health level is determined partly by the accessibility of the services and their quality, there are many other factors that may influence an individual's health condition, which are mainly social determinants. Since there are many factors that determine health conditions of the individuals, it would be wrong to hold someone totally responsible for her health condition on the basis of her life-style; such as prudency.

[Medical ethics in residency training].

Medical ethics education in residency training is one of the hot topics of continuous medical education debates. Its importance and necessity is constantly stressed in declarations and statements on national and international level. Parallel to the major structural changes in the organization and the finance model of health care system, patient-physician relationship, identity of physicianship, social perception and status of profession are changing.

Exposure of medical students to pharmaceutical marketing in primary care settings: frequent and influential.

It is known that interaction between pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals may lead to corruption of professional values, irrational use of medicine, and negative effects on the patient-physician relationship. Medical students frequently interact with pharmaceutical company representatives and increasingly accept their gifts. Considering the move toward early clinical encounters and community-based education, which expose students early to pharmaceutical representatives, the influence of those gifts is becoming a matter of concern.

[A proposal for the prevention of ethical problems related to drug promotion: a national network for drug information].

The promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies are becoming an increasingly hot topic among healthcare workers and the general public. There are many studies in the literature claiming that drug promotion may lead to ethical problems, irrational use of medication, and increased costs, as well as negative effects on the patient-physician relationship and the medical profession. When considering that healthcare workers generally acquire their knowledge from the pharmaceutical industry, the problems mentioned, which are indeed of paramount importance, and the need for effective and sustainable interventions are clearly revealed.

Exposing nursing students to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies.

There is a strong association between reliance on the promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies and a generally less appropriate use of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies direct some of their promotion towards health workers who do not have the authority to prescribe medicines, such as nurses in certain countries. The aim of this study was to determine the impact that exposure to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies has on judgments made by nursing students about health worker-pharmaceutical company relationships.

Can "presumed consent" justify the duty to treat infectious diseases? An analysis.

Background: AIDS, SARS, and the recent epidemics of the avian-flu have all served to remind us the debate over the limits of the moral duty to care. It is important to first consider the question of whether or not the "duty to treat" might be subject to contextual constraints. The purpose of this study was to investigate the opinions and beliefs held by both physicians and dentists regarding the occupational risks of infectious diseases, and to analyze the argument that the notion of "presumed consent" on the part of professionals may be grounds for supporting the duty to treat.

Do patients have responsibilities in a free-market system? A personal perspective.

The current debate that surrounds the issue of patient rights and the transformation of health care, social insurance, and reimbursement systems has put the topic of patient responsibility on both the public and health care sectors' agenda. This climate of debate and transition provides an ideal time to rethink patient responsibilities, together with their underlying rationale, and to determine if they are properly represented when being called 'patient' responsibilities. In this article we analyze the various types of patient responsibilities, identify the underlying motivations behind their creation, and conclude upon their sensibleness and merit.

[Immigrations to Anatolia, related public health problems and healthcare services in the beginning of the Twentieth Century].

Anatolia, one of the most important crossroads between two continents, has witnessed so many immigrations throughout the history. It is a place where different civilizations and cultures met and transformed each other by interaction. History of important immigrations to Anatolia during the reign of the Ottoman Empire goes back to 1683.