Is it possible to assess the “ethics” of medical school applicants?
Abstract
Questions surrounding the assessment of medical school applicants' morality are difficult but they are nevertheless important for medical schools to consider. It is probably inappropriate to attempt to assess medical school applicants' ethical knowledge, moral reasoning, or beliefs about ethical issues as these all may be developed during the process of education. Attitudes towards ethical issues and ethical sensitivity, however, might be tested in the context of testing for personality attributes. Before any “ethics” testing is introduced as part of screening for admission to medical school it would require validation. We suggest a number of ways in which this might be achieved.
Footnotes
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Michael Lowe, BMed, FRACP, is Associate Professor in Medicine, Fiji School of Medicine, Lautoka, Fiji. Ian Kerridge, BA, BMed (Hons), MPhil, FRACP, FRCPA, is Director of the Clinical Unit in Ethics and Health Law, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Miles Bore, BAPsych (Hons), is a Research Academic in the Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, New South Wales Australia. Don Munro, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. David Powis, BSc (Hons), PhD, is Associate Professor of Human Physiology and Chair of the Undergraduate Selection and Admissions Committee in the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
