Ethics and the Alberta family physician

Abstract

Ethics, the science of moral decision making, is a part of every medical decision, though little consideration is given to this fact in relation to the mundane affairs of everyday practice. Physicians, for the most part, have received little formal instruction in ethics, and often make moral decisions in an ;intutive' way. In this article, the authors review the results of a study they conducted, in which they attempted to determine the level of education in ethical decision making that physicians practising in Alberta have received, as well as the physicians' knowledge of the Hippocratic Oath and the Canadian Medical Association Code of Ethics.