A Practical Approach to Clinical Ethics Education for Undergraduate Medical Students: A Case Study From Guatemala

OBJECTIVE: This case study describes a faculty initiative to create a curriculum in applied medical ethics for undergraduate medical students at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin (UFM) in Guatemala City, Guatemala. METHODS: The new ethics curriculum (PRACTICE) incorporates ethics short-courses into the university’s system of nontraditional, credit-bearing electives offered to students as part of their 6-year undergraduate medical education and complements existing didactic courses in normative ethics. Structured case-based activities allow for flexibility in design and scheduling, do not compete with core requirements of the existing curriculum, and enable students to develop critical reasoning approaches to ethical situations they will encounter in medical practice. Two preliminary workshops provided teaching opportunities for the faculty, stimulated student interest in future ethics courses, and provided an evidence base to guide the development of a formal curriculum. RESULTS: The elective currently includes six 2-hour modules, each of which is a stand-alone unit with learning goals and objectives, brief didactic lecture, assigned readings, discussion case, and assessment. To date, more than 110 students have participated in the workshops and courses. Student feedback and evaluations are being used to refine pedagogical approaches and drive future course content. CONCLUSIONS: The PRACTICE course format offers a transformative model for ethics education in Guatemala that can be used in medical education throughout the country and region.