The Korean medical establishment has traditionally shown little concern for formal training in medical ethics; only recently have courses in medical ethics been included in the curricula of Korea's medical schools. The importance and effectiveness of such courses is still a matter of some debate. This study attempted to measure the effects of a course in medical ethics on senior medical students. For this study, a discussion based course was designed, which made considerable use of video-taped ethical situations. Students were requested to answer a series of ethics related questions both before and after taking the course. Prior to taking the course, students indicated that treatment refusal, abortion, sex pre-selection, and euthanasia are the most important ethical issues in contemporary medical practice in Korea. However, after taking the course, students modified this list slightly by replacing the issue of euthanasia with that of equal access to health care resources. No significant changes were observed in students' value systems. The students' response to the course was favorable.
Curriculum ; Ethical Theory ; Ethics ; Ethics, Medical* ; Euthanasia ; Health Services Accessibility ; Humans ; Korea ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical* ; Treatment Refusal

In the past 30 years, medical ethics education has emerged as a high-priority subject in Korea. This article provides a general overview of medical ethics education in the medical school curriculum. The author supports the idea that the goal of medical ethics education should be to equip physicians with a knowledge base for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas as a core element of the profession. The core elements already have been delineated by the textbook of medical ethics that is in use, and can be applied in contexts including theoretical work, specific areas of application, and problematic clinical cases. This field requires a multidisciplinary approach and should be integrated throughout the entire curriculum of medical school. Ethical theory and knowledge-based approaches should be studied as a basic course, and case studies and ethical debates should incorporated into applied clinical training courses. The grade system is suitable for the knowledge-based approach, while pass-fail evaluations are suitable for small-group discussions of case studies. A team-based approach including both ethicists specializing in philosophy and physicians would be helpful in teaching medical ethics. Progress in ethics education may depend on medical schools to invest in faculty development and to allocate resources accordingly. Ethics education should be treated as a course in professionalism, and should also be incorporated into continuing medical education programs after graduation from medical school.
Curriculum* ; Education* ; Education, Medical, Continuing ; Ethical Theory ; Ethicists ; Ethics ; Ethics, Medical* ; Humans ; Knowledge Bases ; Korea ; Philosophy ; Professionalism ; Schools, Medical*

This study was designed to identify the attitudes of the people on organ donation and transplantation. The purpose of this study was to provide data to help inspire organ donation, and promote registration yield so donor candidates will have more favorable recipients through Q-methodology. A Q-sample was developed through a review of the literature and interviews. Thirty-three statements made up the final Q-sample. The P-sample consisted of twenty-eight subjects, excluding chronic organic disorder. The Q-sorts by each subject were coded and analyzed with the QUNAL computer program. The results were as follows: This study discovered five different types of organ donation and transplantation of twenty- eight subjects. Type I is 'utilitarian.' The people of this type consider human life very valuable and they recognize that organ transplantation is an affirmative medicine that should be performed to extend human life. They believe that are saving others' lives by donating organs. Type II is 'sardonist.' The people of this type approve of organ transplantation usefulness, but they have no intention of participating in the program because of it may trample on human rights. Type III is 'individualist.' The people of this type consider it proper for the activation of organ transplantation by the legal system. They believe that organ donation a valuable too, but needs support through social benefits to donors. Yet, they have not intention of doing what they propose. Type IV is 'familist.' The people of this type have strong attachments to life but they think that organ donation and transplantation should be done between within a family. Type IV is disposition of family intensive consideration rather than altruistic and utilitarianism. Type V is 'deontologist.' The people of this type recognize the benefits of transplantation, but have a negative opinion of activation. They worry about ethical and social problems occurring in the development of modern medicine. They believe that death is the only natural end to life, so they have strong negative opinions of euthanasia and brain death compared to other types. They regard transplantation to be a non-human behavior, because it involves a removing organs and breaking the boundary of death. The findings of this study are only preliminary and serve as a baseline to understanding the subjectivity of individuals on organ donation and transplantation. Therefore, the subjectivity of the five types will be applied to formulate the educational programs and public relations strategies for organ donation because the public's awareness toward organ donation is closely related to their values, beliefs, and attitudes.
Brain Death ; Ethical Theory ; Euthanasia ; History, Modern 1601- ; Human Rights ; Humans ; Intention ; Organ Transplantation ; Public Relations ; Q-Sort ; Social Problems ; Tissue and Organ Procurement* ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants