Virtues in Clinical Practice: Teaching Students about the Complexities and Depth of Professional Practice

Abstract

This paper investigates the integration of virtues into teaching programs for allied health students. It explores the notion that practitioners’ effectiveness is enhanced when they practice virtues along with their technical expertise. These virtues include wisdom and love and they imbue the practitioner’s role with a meaning that extends beyond efficient diagnosis and competent case management. Practicing virtues can deepen the clinical relationship. Allied health students may feel cautious and uncertain about what it actually means to be a virtuous practitioner. Reflexive practice and dialogic encounters are presented as teaching activities that can cultivate virtuous practice.