“Choosing Bloodless Medicine on Religious Grounds” : An Educational Model for Medical Ethics / 医学教育

ABSTRACT

For education in medical ethics, including informed consent and medical treatment that respects patients' wishes, we introduced a lecture from the patient's point of view by the Hospital Liaison Committee for Jehovah's Witnesses into the legal-medicine curriculum for fourth-year students at the Shiga University of Medical Science. The lecture included the showing of a video program titled “Transfusion-Alternative Strategies-Simple, Safe, Effective.” The instructors dealt with an introduction, discussion, and conclusion. Questionnaires completed by students after the conclusion revealed that most students considered the lecture a good, significant, or valuable experience. The opinions expressed by students such as “I will try to respect patients' wishes” and “I wish to acquire appropriate skills and attitudes to address patients' wishes” indicated that the lecture improved the student's medical ethical attitudes. We report on this effective method for ethical education.