The teaching of ethics and bioethics in Medical Schools

Abstract

Objective: To assess how ethics and bioethics contents are included in the curricula of medical schools of universities in Ceará. Methods: This documentary research was carried out in July 2017 in four universities that have medical schools: University of Fortaleza (Universidade de Fortaleza – Unifor), Federal University of Ceará (Universidade Federal do Ceará – UFC), Ceará State University (Universidade Estadual do Ceará – UECE) and Christus University (Universidade Christus – Unichristus). Data were collected by reviewing the curricula of the schools provided by their coordination offices or found on the websites of the universities. The documents were analyzed in terms of the nature of the content, the number of hours and specific courses that addressed ethics and bioethics. We also checked if the contents were included in the pedagogical planning of the other courses taught in the school to check for cross-cutting themes. Results: After analyzing the curricula of the four universities and the pedagogical projects of two universities, we found that ethics and bioethics were cited in the curricula of all the institutions as an integral part of medical education, although such inclusion did not occur in a uniform manner across the universities. Conclusion: Ethics and bioethics contents are present in the curricula of medical schools in Ceará, either in specific courses or in courses that cover, among other themes, ethics and bioethics.