Conclusions
Understanding the issues relevant, and common, to a
diverse student body such as those exemplified by our
students, enabled us to identify specific high impact
topics to be used in bioethics instruction. The structure,
content and delivery of an ethics curriculum
within a brief medical elective necessitates the careful
choice of both topics and modalities. Students’ clear
choice of interactive instruction over frontal imparting
of knowledge stresses the potential need to develop
unique instructional modalities in order to reach
some of the worthy goals aspired to by bioethicists.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study
utilizing a needs analysis from medical students coming
from different geopolitical and religious beliefs to
explore the content and method of delivery of an
ethics curriculum catering to the unique needs of students
from different geopolitical regions. It provides
suggestions and insights into the development of an
ethics curriculum that could be used for a diverse
student body.