Interdisciplinary education in clinical ethics: a work in progress

Abstract

Clinical decision making and, broadly speaking, patient care are increasingly collaborative endeavors dependent on the integration of the profession-specific knowledge, skills, and perspectives of physicians and nurses. Conflicts over the ethical dimensions of clinical decision making often arise from these differing but complementary perspectives. Neither medical nor nursing education adequately prepares future clinicians for these realities of practice. At Georgetown University, students and faculty in medicine and nursing have developed an interdisciplinary curriculum in clinical ethics. The curriculum will bring together medical students and graduate nursing students with the aim of educating and training them to analyze and resolve dilemmas in clinical ethics critically and collaboratively.