Ensuring training of medical students in bioethics competencies as an integral part of medical curriculum

Abstract

Ethics has been considered an integral and indispensable part of the health-care profession for multiple decades. The term “bioethics” generally refers to the study of ethical issues arising because of the development made in the field of medicine, biology, and technology, which might become a cause of concern for humans or detrimentally affects the association between human and their environment. In order to streamline the training process of medical students in bioethics, there is an indispensable need to define the competencies that need to be covered during the training period. We must understand that teaching bioethics is way more than covers a theoretical topic, rather it requires exposure of medical students to a number of practical and clinically relevant scenarios. In conclusion, training medical students in bioethics have to be acknowledged as an important need, as it will eventually determine the safety and well-being of the current and future generations of people. It is high time that specific steps are taken to define specific bioethics competencies and integrate them with the existing medical curriculum to benefit both medical students and the general population.