First course in applied clinical ethics for medical staff launched at Imperial

Imperial launches UK's first course in Applied Clinical Ethics to help medical staff deal with the central ethical issues in medicine - News Release

Imperial College London News Release
For immediate release
Wednesday 13 December 2006

Imperial College London has launched the UK's first course in Applied Clinical Ethics to help medical staff deal with the central ethical issues in medicine.

Clinicians on the course will look at issues such as when it is morally acceptable to withdraw life-saving treatment, when doctors should consider do-not-resuscitate orders, and what to do when patients or relatives disagree with doctors. The course will take place on six Saturday sessions between February and June 2007.

Imperial's course has been set up in response to the Royal College of Physicians' 2005 report 'Ethics in Practice', which recommended that medical staff should have training in clinical ethics. Although every medical school in the UK is now expected to teach the subject to medical students, many practising doctors have never received any formal training in resolving ethical dilemmas.

Dr Daniel Sokol , Honorary Research Associate at Imperial and the course leader, says that the aim of the course is to turn clinicians into 'budding medical ethicists'. It is designed for medical staff such as doctors, surgeons, general practitioners, nurses and managers.

Dr Sokol, from the Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Primary Care, said: "When people think of medicine, they think of science and technical miracles, but medicine is a deeply moral enterprise. Questions of value, of good and bad, right and wrong, pervade the practice of medicine.

"In the US, there are professional ethicists that clinicians can call upon for help in resolving moral dilemmas - they can even be bleeped and called onto wards to visit clinicians, patients and relatives. We don't have this in the UK and this means clinicians are mostly on their own. Many thoughtful clinicians are keen to learn ways to analyse ethical problems and justify their decisions. We hope the new course will address this and ensure that clinicians know how to deal with ethical issues as well as the technical side of their work," he added.

The course will be taught by experts in clinical ethics and related fields. It will cover topics including the theory and practice of clinical ethics; autonomy issues; ethical issues at the beginning and end of life; and the roles of culture and religion in decision-making. Those on the course will have the opportunity to share their views with colleagues and explore arguments that support or challenge their existing assumptions.

Further information about the course can be found at www.imperial.ac.uk/cpd/ace

For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Press Officer
Imperial College London
email: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)207 594 6702 or ext. 46702
Mob: +44 (0)7803 886 248

Notes to editors:

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