Which virtues of the king applicable to teach medical ethics and professionalism?

Main Article Content

Pimpet Sukumalpaiboon

Abstract

 


Background: Teaching medical professionalism is a challenging task as in how, what, and when to teach. By being professional, one should possess certain characteristics, attitudes, competencies, and conduct of their respective profession.  Professionalism involves multi –faceted concepts and different issues with social purposes, thus necessitating a need for careful selection of learning topics and practical instructional designs according to Thai social situations.


Objective: The objective of this research is to study medical students on their perception of Royal Virtues “Ten Duties of the King" (dasa-raja-dhamma), and the application of those virtues to the medical profession.


Materials and Methods: This study is a qualitative research effort using focus group interviews during October, 2016 and November, 2016. 28 medical students who attended an extra-curriculum integration course participated. Data from group interviews were primarily analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics.


Results: The medical students perceptions related to Royal Virtue could be categorized into four issues: 1.Benefits to future medical profession  2. Help to become good doctors 3. Lessen conflicts with patients or colleagues  4. The virtues could be cultivated.   The most common virtues that medical students thought applicable to their future professions were Khanti (60.7%), Sila (50.0%) and Tapa (50.0%).  The least common virtues were Akkodha (7.1%) and Avihimsa (7.1%).


Conclusion: The results of this study can be used as a guideline in designing instructional methods to teach medical ethics and professionalism that are consistent with Thai social context learning through positive role models.

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References

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