Ethical responsibilities during undergraduate medical studies: A students' perspective

Abstract

All over the world, we see cases of violation of the code of ethical conduct by health professionals and students, leading to distrust between them and their patients. Institutions need to prioritise the training of students in biomedical ethics. Students face a variety of ethical issues throughout their course of study. Issues tend to vary from the pre-clinical years to the clinical years, depending upon the exposure to patients and teaching standards practised in institutions. There appears to be a gap between ethical issues discussed in classrooms and those faced by students in real life. Here we intend to provide a brief overview of the ethical responsibilities of a medical student in varied contexts. Knowing what their moral duties are will sensitise students to fundamental ethical principles in the medical field and lessen the gap between what is taught and what they will encounter in practice. Moreover, it will draw the attention of teachers towards the need to provide quality training in biomedical ethics.