Overall Objectives: Ethics
The general objective of the longitudinal Ethics Curriculum is to help residents develop a systematic approach of ethical reasoning in a clinical context.
Specific themes that are covered over the 2 years include:
1) Informed Decision-Making
- Determinations of competence
- Informed consent vs. refusal vs. demand
- Surrogate decision-making and advance directives
2) Moral responsibilities of physicians
- Duties and obligations to patients
- Restrictions and prohibitions on health care professionals
- Confidentiality vs. obligation to third parties
- Responsibilities of patients to others
3) Death and dying
- Definitions of death and criteria for its determination
- Concepts of personhood and borderline states (irreversible coma, persistent vegetative state)
- Determining appropriate levels of intervention (concept of futility)
- Assisted suicide and euthanasia
4) Allocation of resources
- Concept of distributive justice
- Gatekeeper role of family physicians
- Selection criteria for recipients of scarce resources
- Prioritization of need in the context of available resources
Links to Site Specific Teaching Settings and Methods:
CFPC Case-Based Biomedical Ethics Scenarios
