Aims

To become acquainted with the social, political and institutional aspects of ethical problems in clinical practice.

Main themes

The content of these exercices is different from the "Clinical cases exercices" inasmuch as they are related to the position of medical practice - foreseen from an ethical viewpoint - in a wider context.
The exercices will deal with the social context of health care (e.g. the problem of exclusion and unfairness related to health hazards); the economical context (e.g. the problem of health care allocation in a situation of limited ressources); the institutionnal context (e.g. the impact of the organisation and the management of hospitals on the daily good clinical practice); the political context (e.g. the reorganisation of the health care system and the respect of professional autonomy).

Content and teaching methods

Clinical cases will be selected according to their significant society's component.
The students have to gather informations in areas such as laws, economics, epidemiology…in order to enlighten the analysis of the cases. Initially, they will proceed using a small group thinking approach. Later on, the whole group will design a detailed picture of the case taking into account all the aspects of its context, and will ultimately propose a way to find a solution. The students will then consult specialists in the related areas in order to assess the feasibility of the emerging proposition of solution.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

The final evaluation is based on the oral presentation made by each student about the way she or he has been contributing to the understanding and the solution of the related case.
This seminar being held during the second year of the curriculum, it will be thriven on the lectures "Questions approfondies" given during the first year.
In fact, those exercices are the student's practical work for which the teacher's job must be restricted to counselling and recommendations. The seminar sessions are mainly discussions completed with the input of other experts if necessary.
The EBIM team will assist the students in their research for informations. Phone contact can be obtained at: Benoît VAN CUTSEM: 02/764 43 35, Jeannine TUMMERS: 02/764 43 27.