PURPOSE: This study investigated medical students' attitudes toward academic misconduct that occurs in the learning environment during the pre-clinical and clinical periods. METHODS: Third-year medical students from seven medical schools were invited to participate in this study. A total of 337 of the 557 (60.5%) students completed an inventory assessing their attitudes toward academic misconduct. The inventory covered seven factors: scientific misconduct (eight items), irresponsibility in class (six items), disrespectful behavior in patient care (five items), dishonesty in clerkship tasks (four items), free riding on group assignments (four items), irresponsibility during clerkship (two items), and cheating on examinations (one item). RESULTS: Medical students showed a strict attitude toward academic misconduct such as cheating on examinations and disrespectful behavior in patient care, but they showed a less rigorous attitude toward dishonesty in clerkship tasks and irresponsibility in class. There was no difference in students' attitudes toward unprofessional behaviors by gender. The graduate medical school students showed a stricter attitude toward some factors of academic misconduct than the medical college students. This difference was significant for irresponsibility in class, disrespectful behavior in patient care, and free riding on group assignments. CONCLUSION: This study indicates a critical vulnerability in medical students' professionalism toward academic integrity and responsibility. Further study evidence is needed to confirm whether this professionalism lapse is confined only to this population or is pervasive in other medical schools as well.
Ethics ; Humans ; Learning ; Patient Care ; Professional Misconduct ; Professionalism ; Schools, Medical ; Scientific Misconduct ; Students, Medical

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*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Peer Review/*ethics ; Professional Misconduct/*ethics ; Publishing/*ethics

PURPOSE: Identifying medical students' perceptions of and experiences with unprofessional behavior in school can help them develop and maintain higher standards of professional ethics. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument that assesses medical students' attitudes toward academic misconduct. METHODS: A draft version of the questionnaire form was developed, based on an extensive literature review and iterative discussions. The validity of the content of this draft form was evaluated by medical students, physicians, and education specialists. A total of 803 medical students answered the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis was performed using principal axis factoring and Varimax rotation. A confirmatory factor analysis was also conducted by root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and comparative fit index (CFI). The internal consistency of the scales was calculated using the Cronbach alpha statistic. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis generated 6 factors with 29 items: scientific misconduct (8 items); irresponsibility in the class (6 items); disrespectful behavior in patient care (5 items); dishonesty in clerkship tasks (4 items); free-riding on group assignments (4 items); and irresponsibility during clerkship (2 items). After adding a single item that addressed cheating on examinations, a 30-item inventory was developed. A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a favorable RMSEA (0.082) and reasonable fit (CFI, 0.844). The coefficient alpha for each factor varied between 0.80 and 0.90. CONCLUSION: Our instrument is useful in identifying students' ethical standards with regard to academics and examining the prevalence of unprofessional behavior in medical students.
Ethics, Professional ; Humans ; Patient Care ; Prevalence ; Scientific Misconduct ; Specialization ; Students, Medical ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: TV dramas can affect the identity of a person or group that the public perceives by presenting virtualized characters and events. The image of a doctor in the medical drama can influence the identity of a contemporary physician group. The authors analyze several medical dramas in Korea from the viewpoint of medical professionalism and try to contribute to the enlightment of the image of the doctor.METHODS: Among the medical dramas that have been broadcast since medical professions began to appear, 5 dramas were selected for analysis. The author reviewed them by four major areas of medical professionalism: contribution to society, compliance with the four principles of medical ethics, professional autonomy, and recognition from society and scored an upper-middle-lower grade.RESULTS: ‘Contribution to society’ and ‘recognition from society’ were well-founded in all dramas, except ‘Doctor Stranger’. In the case of ‘compliance with the four principles of medical ethics’, ‘Golden Time’ and ‘Romantic doctors Kim’ most frequently violated it. The ‘medical ethics principle’ was frequently infringed on ‘Doctor Strangers’, In the case of ‘Doctors’, the violation of the ethics principle was reduced as the conflict between the drama characters were emphasized. ‘Professional autonomy’ is best demonstrated by stubborn doctors appearing in ‘Golden Time’ and ‘Romantic Doctors Kim’.CONCLUSION: It is necessary to criticize the doctors image in the current drama from the view point of the medical professionalism and to continue to teach the drama writer about medical professionalism.
Compliance ; Drama ; Ethics ; Ethics, Medical ; Humans ; Korea ; Professional Autonomy ; Professionalism

The rapid developments of science and technology in China over recent decades, particularly in biomedical research, have brought forward serious challenges regarding ethical governance. Recently, Jian-kui HE, a Chinese scientist, claimed to have "created" the first gene-edited babies, designed to be naturally immune to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The news immediately triggered widespread criticism, denouncement, and debate over the scientific and ethical legitimacy of HE's genetic experiments. China's guidelines and regulations have banned germline genome editing on human embryos for clinical use because of scientific and ethical concerns, in accordance with the international consensus. HE's human experimentation has not only violated these Chinese regulations, but also breached other ethical and regulatory norms. These include questionable scientific value, unreasonable risk-benefit ratio, illegitimate ethics review, invalid informed consent, and regulatory misconduct. This series of ethical failings of HE and his team reveal the institutional failure of the current ethics governance system which largely depends on scientist's self-regulation. The incident highlights the need for urgent improvement of ethics governance at all levels, the enforcement of technical and ethical guidelines, and the establishment of laws relating to such bioethical issues.
CRISPR-Cas Systems ; China ; Consent Forms/ethics* ; Ethics, Medical ; Female ; Gene Editing/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Gene Knockout Techniques/ethics* ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; Human Experimentation/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Professional Misconduct/ethics* ; Receptors, CCR5/genetics*

Professional ethics can often encompass areas regulated by law. This is true of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) code of ethics. Therefore, doctors should consider their legal obligations when complying with medical ethics guidelines. A revision prepared by the KMA committee on medical ethics guidelines contains 5 types of amendments. First, some guidelines deal with areas that are not governed by current legislation. A second set of guidelines clarify the obligation to comply with current legislation by specifying “to the extent permitted by the law”. A third set of guidelines repeat the contents of current legislation almost verbatim. A fourth set of guidelines explain the content of the current legislation in lay language when a chance of misunderstanding is present. Fifth, some guidelines can be interpreted as being in conflict with current legislation. The statement that physicians must consider the content of relevant laws does not mean that they must accept those laws uncritically. At a minimum, doctors should avoid falling into legal difficulties because of legal ignorance. Furthermore, doctors must make efforts to revise relevant laws that are not acceptable from the point of view of medical ethics. If doctors continue this effort, they can maintain their professional dignity. The revision of the medical ethics guidelines is the beginning of this effort. If doctors understand the relationship between medical ethics guidelines and current legislation, it will be easier for doctors to comply with medical ethics guidelines in the clinical setting.
Accidental Falls ; Codes of Ethics ; Ethics, Medical* ; Ethics, Professional ; Jurisprudence*

Professional ethics can often encompass areas regulated by law. This is true of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) code of ethics. Therefore, doctors should consider their legal obligations when complying with medical ethics guidelines. A revision prepared by the KMA committee on medical ethics guidelines contains 5 types of amendments. First, some guidelines deal with areas that are not governed by current legislation. A second set of guidelines clarify the obligation to comply with current legislation by specifying “to the extent permitted by the law”. A third set of guidelines repeat the contents of current legislation almost verbatim. A fourth set of guidelines explain the content of the current legislation in lay language when a chance of misunderstanding is present. Fifth, some guidelines can be interpreted as being in conflict with current legislation. The statement that physicians must consider the content of relevant laws does not mean that they must accept those laws uncritically. At a minimum, doctors should avoid falling into legal difficulties because of legal ignorance. Furthermore, doctors must make efforts to revise relevant laws that are not acceptable from the point of view of medical ethics. If doctors continue this effort, they can maintain their professional dignity. The revision of the medical ethics guidelines is the beginning of this effort. If doctors understand the relationship between medical ethics guidelines and current legislation, it will be easier for doctors to comply with medical ethics guidelines in the clinical setting.
Accidental Falls ; Codes of Ethics ; Ethics, Medical* ; Ethics, Professional ; Jurisprudence*

Otologists and audiologists care for patients and conduct clinical research to find more effective treatments that benefit patients. Institutional Review Board (IRB) permission is necessary for conducting clinical trials on humans. Furthermore, many bioethical conflicts are encountered while conducting research. However, few otologists and audiologists in Korea know bioethics and the principles and regulations of IRBs in detail. This paper reviews the history of ethics in clinical research and current bioethical principles and IRB regulations. We outline what you need as otologists or audiologists to get IRB approval while considering the principles of bioethics.
Bioethical Issues ; Bioethics ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Humans ; Korea ; Social Control, Formal

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the differences of the Code of Ethics, level of application of the Code of Ethics and consciousness of biomedical ethics of nurses about clinical practice experience, ethical values and biomedical ethics education experience of nursing students. METHODS: A descriptive research design, t-test and one-way ANOVA were used. The data were collected 1st June to 31st August 2016 from two large cities. The participants were 246 nursing students with a mean age of 22.57 years. Among them, 209 (84.6%) were female, 94 (38.2%) had clinical practice experience, 155 (63.0%) listed their ethical value as different depending on the situation, and 127 (51.6%) had biomedical ethics education experience. RESULTS: The scores were: awareness of the Code of Ethics of Nurses 4.29±0.60; application of the Code of Ethics of Nurses 4.24±0.64; and consciousness of biomedical ethics 2.91±0.19. There were significant differences in application of the Code of Ethics of Nurses (t=−1.97, p=.050); consciousness of biomedical ethics (t=−2.25, p=.025) related to clinical practice experience; and consciousness of biomedical ethics related to biomedical education experience (t=2.67, p=.007). CONCLUSION: Clinical practice and biomedical ethics education experience contributed to enhance the level of application of the Code of Ethics of Nurses and consciousness of biomedical ethics of nursing students.
Bioethics* ; Codes of Ethics* ; Consciousness* ; Education* ; Ethics ; Ethics, Nursing* ; Female ; Humans ; Nursing* ; Research Design ; Students, Nursing