ABSTRACT

Knowledge of ethical principles and ethical reasoning can be assessed by using a questionnaire. It is not possible to assess the internalization of ethical values except by unobstrusive observation of a practicing physician confronted with a practical ethical problem. The impact of the medical curriculum on ethical knowledge can be assessed by using a questionnaire at the start and at various stages in the medical course. This short paper lists the major headings and subheadings that should be included in such a questionnaire. There are too many potential knowledge/attitude/opinion items under each heading. It is recommended that about 3-5 should be selected since there is likely to be a high correlation among items under one heading or sub-heading.

PHILOSOPHICAL / CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF ETHICS

The concept of pre-determination

Ownership /custody of the human body

Personal responsibility for healthy living

Types of ethics: normative, relative, comparative

Law vs ethics

PHYSICIAN CONDUCT

Autonomy vs paternalism

Disclosure and truthfulness

Privacy and confidentiality

Fidelity

Etiquette with patients

Patients of the opposite gender

PHYSICIAN MISCONDUCT

Abuse of prescription of controlled substances

Financial abuses

False certification

Allowing/abetting practice by an unqualified /unlicenced person

Medical negligence/malpractice

Personal misbehavior such as sexual abuse of patients

RESEARCH

Informed consent

Good clinical practices

REPRODUCTIVE ETHICS

In vivo insemination

In vitro fertilization

Contraception

Abortion

Reproductive cloning

Abortion

Sex selection

GENETICS

Pre-marital Genetic counseling and testing

Pre-natal counseling and testing

Genetic engineering

Mass screening

Obligatory pre-marital screening in cousin marriages

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL TECHNOLOGIES