Abstract

Bioethics is a philosophical discipline that deals with social, legal, cultural, epidemiological, ecological, and ethical issues that arise in the field of health and life sciences. Training in bioethics is an essential part of higher education, particularly in the fields of medicine and health sciences. The teaching of bioethics should provide the basis for health professionals (whether in training or practicing) to carry out their activities with firm ethical values in a changing environment that is increasingly complex from the social and cultural point of view. Therefore, a solid training in the area of bioethics is essential, which must be developed both formally in the curriculum and transversally through the application of the fundamental bioethical principles in the different courses that form the study programs in the health area. In this study, we evaluated the level of training in bioethics of students and instructors of medicine and health sciences programs at Norte University (Asunción, Paraguay), with the purpose of establishing a diagnostic baseline on which to develop strategies aimed at improving such training. To this end, we analyzed the academic records of the teachers of the careers of the evaluated areas (Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Biochemistry, Dentistry, Psychology, and Physiotherapy and Kinesiology), as well as the corresponding study programs that are part of the 2020 curriculum. Complete academic records were obtained from 105 instructors. We observed that only a quarter of these instructors received some type of training in bioethics, mainly non-formal training such as short courses. The percentage of instructors who received formal training (at the specialist or master’s degree) was even lower (2%). Regarding the level of training offered to students, of the 7 evaluated programs, we note that in all of them only one specific subject from the area of ethics was included, this subject being semester, with a time load of 2 to 5 weekly hours. We also note the sporadic inclusion of bioethical topics in the study programs of other courses. The emphasis was placed on professional ethics and deontology, with little or no inclusion of other topics pertinent to the area of bioethics. Furthermore, the teaching methodology was predominantly through conferences given by the instructor, with no evidence of other strategies such as the discussion of cases for the development of critical thinking or problem-based learning. Our findings indicate a deficient bioethical training, both in instructors and students in the areas of medicine and health sciences. This highlights the need to implement improvement strategies in the area of bioethics, which will benefit the professionals in training in their personal lives, their social environment, and in their clinical field.

Keywords (MeSH): bioethics (D001675), clinical ethics (D026690), teacher training (D000070260), students (D013334), curriculum (D003479)