TY - JOUR
T1 - The hidden curriculum, ethics teaching, and the structure of medical education
AU - Hafferty, Frederic W
AU - Franks, Ronald
PY - 1994/11
Y1 - 1994/11
N2 - The authors raise questions regarding the widespread calls emanating from lay and medical audiences alike to intensify the formal teaching of ethics within the medical school curriculum. In particular, they challenge a prevailing belief within the culture of medicine that while it may be possible to teach information about ethics (e.g., skills in recognizing the presence of common ethical problems, skills in ethical reasoning, or improved understanding of the language and concepts of ethics), course material or even an entire curriculum can in no way decisively influence a student’s personality or ensure ethical conduct. To this end, several issues are explored, including whether medical ethics is best framed as a body of knowledge and skills or as part of one’s professional identity. The authors argue that most of the critical determinants of physician identity operate not within the formal curriculum but in a more subtle, less officially recognized “hidden curriculum.” The overall process of medical education is presented as a form of moral training of which formal instruction in ethics constitutes only one small piece. Finally, the authors maintain that any attempt to develop a comprehensive ethics curriculum must acknowledge the broader cultural milieu within which that curriculum must function. In conclusion, they offer recommendations on how an ethics curriculum might be more fruitfully structured to become a seamless part of the training process.
AB - The authors raise questions regarding the widespread calls emanating from lay and medical audiences alike to intensify the formal teaching of ethics within the medical school curriculum. In particular, they challenge a prevailing belief within the culture of medicine that while it may be possible to teach information about ethics (e.g., skills in recognizing the presence of common ethical problems, skills in ethical reasoning, or improved understanding of the language and concepts of ethics), course material or even an entire curriculum can in no way decisively influence a student’s personality or ensure ethical conduct. To this end, several issues are explored, including whether medical ethics is best framed as a body of knowledge and skills or as part of one’s professional identity. The authors argue that most of the critical determinants of physician identity operate not within the formal curriculum but in a more subtle, less officially recognized “hidden curriculum.” The overall process of medical education is presented as a form of moral training of which formal instruction in ethics constitutes only one small piece. Finally, the authors maintain that any attempt to develop a comprehensive ethics curriculum must acknowledge the broader cultural milieu within which that curriculum must function. In conclusion, they offer recommendations on how an ethics curriculum might be more fruitfully structured to become a seamless part of the training process.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028139097&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028139097&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/00001888-199411000-00001
DO - 10.1097/00001888-199411000-00001
M3 - Article
C2 - 7945681
AN - SCOPUS:0028139097
SN - 1040-2446
VL - 69
SP - 861
EP - 871
JO - Academic Medicine
JF - Academic Medicine
IS - 11
ER -