Compassion and Integrity in Medical Education

Abstract

Ward Ethics: Dilemmas for Medical Students and Doctors in Training. Edited by Thomasine K. Kushner and David C. Thomasma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. 284. The process of medical training is grueling. Ward Ethics: Dilemmas for Medical Students and Doctors in Training (Ward Ethics) deals with the daily dilemmas faced by trainees as they struggle to respond to exhaustion, personal insecurities, the suffering of patients, and unethical behavior on the part of supervisors. Most of the cases in the book are not classic ethical dilemmas in the sense of there being uncertainty about the morality of a situation. The book is so filled with examples of unethical behavior that we wonder if anyone reading it would ever agree to see a doctor again. Instead, the dilemmas here focus on how the trainee should respond to unethical situations, and therefore, the issues are important ones.