A spoonful of care ethics: The challenges of enriching medical education

BACKGROUND: Nursing Ethics has featured several discussions on what good care comprises and how to achieve good care practices. We should "nurse" ethics by continuously reflecting on the way we "do" ethics, which is what care ethicists have been doing over the past few decades and continue to do so. Ethics is not limited to nursing but extends to all caring professions. In 2011, Elin Martinsen argued in this journal that care should be included as a core concept in medical ethical terminology because of "the harm to which patients may be exposed owing to a lack of care in the clinical encounter," specifically between doctors and patients. However, Martinsen leaves the didactical challenges arising from such a venture open for further enquiry. OBJECTIVES: In this article, we explore the challenges arising from implementing care-ethical insights into medical education. RESEARCH DESIGN: Medical education in the Netherlands is investigated through a "care-ethical lens". This means exploring the possibility of enriching medical education with care-ethical insights, while at the same time discovering possible challenges emerging from such an undertaking. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: This paper has been written from the academic context of a master in care ethics and policy. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: We have tried to be fair and respectful to the authors discussed and take a neutral stance towards the findings portrayed. FINDINGS: Several challenges are identified, which we narrow down to two types: didactical and non-didactical. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In order to overcome these challenges, we must not underestimate the possible resistance to a paradigm shift. Our efforts should mainly target the learning that takes place in the clinical phases of medical training and should be accompanied by the creation of awareness in healthcare practice.