Identifying Relevant Topics for Inclusion in an Ethics Curriculum for Anesthesiology Trainees: A Survey of Practitioners in the Field

Authors

Madeline J. Pence, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, 2300 I St NW, Washington, DC20052, USA.
Raymond A. Pla, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, George Washington University, 900 23rd St NW, Washington, DC20037, USA.
Eric Heinz, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, George Washington University, 900 23rd St NW, Washington, DC20037, USA.
Rundell Douglas, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW #2, Washington, DC20037, USA.
Eduard Shaykhinurov, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, George Washington University, 900 23rd St NW, Washington, DC20037, USA.
Breanne Jacobs, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, 2300 I St NW, Washington, DC20052, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-29-2024

Journal

Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees

DOI

10.1017/S0963180124000240

Keywords

anesthesiology; bioethics; ethics; resident education; trainee

Abstract

Anesthesiology training programs are tasked with equipping trainees with the skills to become medically and ethically competent in the practice of anesthesia and to be prepared to obtain board certification, yet there is currently no standardized ethics curriculum within anesthesia training programs in the United States. To bridge this gap, and to provide a validated ethics curriculum to meet the aforementioned needs, in July 2021, a survey was sent to anesthesia scholars in the field of biomedical ethics to identify key areas that should be included in such an ethics curriculum. The responses were rated on a Likert scale and ranked. This paper identifies the top ten topics identified as high priority for inclusion in an anesthesiology training program and consequently deemed most relevant to meet the educational needs of graduates of an anesthesiology residency: (1) capacity to consent; (2) capacity to refuse elective versus lifesaving treatment; (3) application of surrogate decisionmaking; (4) approach to do not resuscitate (DNR) status in the operating room; (5) patient autonomy and advance directives; (6) navigating patient beliefs that may impair care; (7) "futility" in end-of-life care: when to withdraw life support; (8) disclosure of medical errors; (9) clinical criteria for "brain death" and consequences of this definition; and (10) the impaired anesthesiologist.

APA Citation

Pence, Madeline J.; Pla, Raymond A.; Heinz, Eric; Douglas, Rundell; Shaykhinurov, Eduard; and Jacobs, Breanne, "Identifying Relevant Topics for Inclusion in an Ethics Curriculum for Anesthesiology Trainees: A Survey of Practitioners in the Field" (2024). GW Authored Works. Paper 4664.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/4664

Department

Emergency Medicine