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Journal of Medical Education

Abstract

Purpose: Cultural background may influence medical students' ethical judgments. This study used a virtual case with an ethical dilemma to investigate whether the ethical principles adopted by international medical students in making decision could be different by gender or countries of origin. Methods: We invited first-year international medical students to interact with a virtual case scenario related to an unmarried teenage girl presented with ectopic pregnancy. Every student was requested to submit a report about the scenario related ethical issues and how the medical decision was made. We collected their reflective reports and analyzed the basis of ethical principles supporting their choices of medical decision by countries of origin. Results: A total of 20 medical students (male: female; 6:14) from six countries were enrolled. There was no difference in preference of adopting ethical principles between male and female students. Majority (55%) of them honored patient's autonomy in solving medical dilemma. However, medical students from Honduras and Saint Lucia exhibited two distinctive patterns of choices: Honduran students were more inclined to adopt the principle of beneficence, whereas Saint Lucia students were more inclined to adopt the principle of patient autonomy. Students from the rest countries preferred honoring patients' autonomy except only one from Palau. Conclusions: International medical students made medical decision based on ethical principles affected by the socio-cultural context of their home countries. Teachers should consider the impact of different socio-cultural contexts on medical students' ethical judgments and use appropriate teaching strategies to reinforce their related weakness.

First Page

121

Last Page

129

DOI

10.6145/jme.202206_26(2).0006

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