Theme
Student as teacher
INSTITUTION
Kings College London
The Student Clinical Ethics Committee was established at King’s College London, School of Medicine in 2010. The SCEC acts as a student forum for discussion and reflection on ethical topics encountered by students in their clinical practice. Therefore supplementing core ethics teaching by raising awareness of common ethical issues faced.1
Figure 1. Set up of SCEC meetings
Case discussion topics have included:
- Suspected domestic abuse in antenatal setting
- Withdrawal of treatment from a patient in intensive care against the wishes of her family
- An elderly patient, detained under Mental Health Act, wishes to die and refuses treatment
- Patient (a healthcare worker) at high risk of HIV refuses testing because of concerns re confidentiality
- Elderly patient withdraws consent for surgery after discussion with her son 2
Case referrals discussed at the SCEC meetings are then written up and summarised
This poster offers the next step in the development of the Student Clinical Ethics Committee at King's
Cases discussed at meetings will be used as a basis for e-learning modules
Student members of SCEC identified topics frequently discussed at SCEC meetings and created self-contained ‘modules’ which students can work through to promote knowledge and understanding.
Topics include:
- capacity
- best interests
- consent/refusal
- mental health
- autonomy
- beneficence in end of life care.
The e-learning modules utilise film clips, newspaper articles and podcasts, as well as links to the curriculum to create a dynamic multi-media format. Previous clinical cases discussed by the SCEC are used to illustrate relevant ethical and legal issues.
Figure 2. Example of online module on 'Virtual Campus'
On finishing the e-learning modules, students will be able to print out a certificate of completion in the first step to become an active member of SCEC.
The modules will also be accessible to students of all disciplines in order to provide supplementary ethics resources to the core curriculum.
If you wanted to join the Student Clinical Ethics Committee would you find an e-learning resource useful? - 77 % said yes
Would you use an e-learning resource on the virtual campus to help with ethics assignments?(e.g. ethics exam in year 2/ ethics report in year 3) 82% said yes
Disseminating case summaries via e-learning allows the whole medical school to benefit from SCEC
Modules fulfil a two-fold purpose;
i.) Enabling students who want to become a member of SCEC to demonstrate core competencies and ensuring they are confident in recognising complex ethical and legal issues.
ii.) Supplementing the ethics and law curriculum for the medical school through clinically relevant case scenarios and a dynamic multimedia format
Feedback from the short survey showed that the majority of students felt positive about the introduction of the e-learning modules, and felt that they would be a useful part of SCEC.
- Students can have an important role in the development of learning materials
- A multimedia e-learning platform provides ease of access and engages with learners
- Integrating real life clinical scenarios into student teaching proves to be an invaluable resource for professional development
We would like to thank Kings College London School of Medicine and Dr Carolyn Johnston LLB, LLM, MA, PhD for their support and guidance.
1. Johnston C, Williams C, Dias C, Lapraik A, Marvdashti L and Norcross C, (2012) ‘Setting up a student clinical ethics committee’ Clin Ethics 7: 51–53.
2. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/medicine/research/divisions/meded/innovation/SCEC.aspx