Dermatoethics: a curriculum in bioethics and professionalism for dermatology residents at Brown Medical School

Abstract

Both American and Canadian residency accreditation bodies have formal requirements in core competencies that include training in ethics and professionalism without prescribing content. A structured seminar series in medical ethics and professionalism relating to dermatology practice was started at Brown Medical School's dermatology residency in 2001. Methods of instruction include discussion groups, review of medical and lay literature, book review, didactic teaching, case presentation, and informal e-mail exchange. Some of the topics that have been covered include basic medical ethics, research ethics, physician-industry relationships, truth telling, privacy and confidentiality, duty to treat, and ethical and legal issues in cosmetic dermatology, dermatologic surgery, dermatologic genetics, occupational dermatology, and pediatric dermatology. The main goals of the curriculum are to fulfill the core competency requirement in professionalism of the specialty certifying boards, introduce trainees to the cross-disciplinary literature of biomedical ethics and current ethical controversies, and encourage dialogue on ethics and professionalism among faculty, colleagues in other specialties, and dermatology trainees.