Application to the Dilemma Discussion Program: Ethics and Character Education for Medical Students

의과대학 윤리·인성 교육을 위한 딜레마 토론의 활용

The current medical practices in Korea have raised many new ethical issues. The current education system in medical colleges, however, is finding it difficult to cope with these rapidly arising medical issues. Many educators, therefore, became much more concerned about the importance of ethics and character education in medical colleges, but teaching methods or educational programs centered around the same have not yet been developed. Dilemma discussion is regarded as an available teaching method but is not frequently used in medical education. In this respect, this study aims to apply dilemma discussion programs to ethics and character education for medical students. It was discovered that dilemma discussion is an effective instructional method for enhancing the moral reasoning ability of medical students. According to $Rest^{\circ}{\phi}s$ theoretical framework, however, a dilemma discussion program focuses on two components of morality: moral judgment and moral sensitivity. Moral judgment and moral sensitivity are major components in predicting moral behaviors. Therefore, the target of dilemma discussion programs is to focus on these two components. It is reasonable to integrate moral judgment with moral sensitivity for ethics and character education in medical schools.