Abstract
BackgroundEthical considerations are increasingly important in medicine. We aimed to determine the mode and extent of teaching of ethics in training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine. MethodsWe developed an on-line survey of teaching in areas of ethics relevant to laboratory medicine. Reponses were invited from directors of training programs who were recruited via email to leaders of national organizations. ResultsThe survey was completed by 80 directors from 24 countries who directed 113 programs. The largest numbers of respondents directed postdoctoral training of scientists (42%) or physicians (33%), post-masters degree programs (33%), and PhD programs (29%). Most programs (82%) were 2years or longer in duration. Formal training was offered in research ethics by 39%, medical ethics by 31%, professional ethics by 24% and business ethics by 9%. The number of reported hours of formal training varied widely, e.g., from 0 to >15h/year for research ethics and from 0 to >15h for medical ethics. Ethics training was required and/or tested in 75% of programs that offered training. A majority (54%) of respondents reported plans to add or enhance training in ethics; many indicated a desire for online resources related to ethics, especially resources with self-assessment tools. ConclusionFormal teaching of ethics is absent from many training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine, with heterogeneity in the extent and methods of ethics training among the programs that provide the training. A perceived need exists for online training tools, especially tools with self-assessment components.
Highlights
As in other areas of medicine and science, ethical questions are present in laboratory medicine [1,2,3]
The survey results indicate that (1) training in medical, research, professional and business ethics was absent from a sizeable majority of the respondents' training programs, (2) about half of the responding program directors plan to add or enhance ethics training and (3) there is a desire for online resources to aid in ethics training in laboratory medicine
The results reported above can be compared to some extent with the results of a survey of teaching of ethics in U.S pathology residency programs [9]
Summary
As in other areas of medicine and science, ethical questions are present in laboratory medicine [1,2,3]. Despite the need for practitioners to answer the questions in these areas, little is known about the teaching of ethics in laboratory medicine training programs. We aimed to obtain international information about current and planned teaching of ethics in doctoral and postdoctoral training programs that are designed to train directors of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine. We aimed to determine the mode and extent of teaching of ethics in training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine. The number of reported hours of formal training varied widely, e.g., from 0 to N 15 h/year for research ethics and from 0 to N15 h for medical ethics. Conclusion: Formal teaching of ethics is absent from many training programs in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine, with heterogeneity in the extent and methods of ethics training among the programs that provide the training. A perceived need exists for online training tools, especially tools with self-assessment components
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