National pecularities of teaching bioethics in the medical university

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of the demand for bioethical education for medical students. This problem is connected with the negative tendency to curriculum reduction of humanitarian disciplines. This point of view appeals to the strengthening of the professional component that determines the profile competencies of a specialist. In particular, it is proposed to reduce the teaching time for bioethics in medical higher schools for its use in teaching operational techniques, so-called practical skills. As an opposing point of view, the analysis of the fragment of the bioethics course developed by UNESCO on the issue of providing medical care to under-age patients in the field of cosmetic surgery is proposed. Students are shown the complexity of an ethical solution, seemingly formally resolved by the rules of the law of the problem. The very process of discussion, the discussions that arise, the decision of the judge convince future doctors of the ambiguity of ethical decisions making, as well as the ambiguity of ethical content of the legal norms in the field of health. This problem raises a number of other ethical dilemmas, initiating students' interest in the ethical side of professional activity. The results of sociological research of students of medical higher school [n = 92, average age (19,2 ± 1,01) years] are presented in the article. Despite the fact that 54,3 % of respondents believe that a 15-year-old patient cannot give consent to cosmetic surgery alone, 27,5 % of students found it difficult to answer, just doubting the possibility to make adequate decision at the age of 15. The data obtained demonstrate the general ethical problems raised by the proposed case in the UNESCO bioethics course. Despite possible discrepancies in the legal norms of national laws, cultural, confessional or atheistic peculiarities of countries, the ethical problems of professional activity are of a general nature.