Design of PBL Cases in Bioethical Education Spanning across General and Professional Education

10.6145/jme.201109_15(3).0009

Hsin-Chen Hsin；Chih-Jaan Tai；Hsi-Chin Wu

bioethics ； Problem Based Learning ； PBL case design ； general education ； professional education

Journal of Medical Education

15卷3期（2011 / 09 / 01）

307 - 314

英文

”Bioethics” is a study of how to face and handle difficulties and dilemma in ”life-related issues”. Bioethics education is featured as a multidisciplinary learning in three aspects, including Population, Behaviors and Life sciences (collectively abbreviated as PBL, similar to problem-based learning as used in this study), those should also be essential learning contents for students in health-care professions. Problem-based learning (PBL) pioneered more than 40 years ago by McMaster University in Canada has proven to be effective in achieving the learning objectives in population, behaviors and life sciences; however PBL may be more successful if the trigger case scenarios are of high quality which can stimulate more interactive and self-directed learning amongst students.A three-level ethical course was proposed at China Medical University to approach gradational learning objectives of a bioethics curriculum. These three levels included; ”Life and ethics”, ”Biomedical ethics” and ”Clinical ethics”. The diverse aims in each level imply the need for multiplicity in case scenarios representing a wide spectrum of ethical issues, such as, cases on the topic of animal right, genetically modified food, stem cell research on human, gene privacy, etc. Cases for the fundamental level were specifically designed to help cultivate an attitude for the respect of life, considering risk vs. benefit, and understanding better in life diversity. For the next level, cases are designed to cultivate the ability of moral reasoning and to realize values in medical profession. These cases include truth telling about end-of-life issues, doctor's duties/right, patient's self determination and research ethics. The ultimate level utilized a narrative approach to several clinical cases based on patient and family's story in order to bring ethical consideration in the clinical setting for professional learning. In general, those cases have been designed to stage effective learning from general to professional learning perspectives.To create effective PBL cases for bioethics learning, the scenarios should lead students to a particular area of study to achieve those diverse learning objects. Ethical problems should not only be appropriate to the level of the students' understanding but also need to infuse sufficient intrinsic interest for students. Scenario should help stimulate discussion and promote self-directed approach in information acquisition from various learning resources. In general, PBL cases consist of ethical enquiries is commonly derived from dilemmas occurring in everyday life, and then evolved into more specific issues relevant to the context in professional practice.

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