Knowledge and awareness of ethics among phase 1 medical students: appraising the role of the foundation course

Background: The increasing incidence of disconnect between doctors and patients in India makes it imperative to teach principles and practice of ethics to medical graduates before they move into substantive clinical practices. The competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum was recently introduced in India. The CBME curriculum encompasses teaching ethics at the beginning of the undergraduate medical curriculum. The study was planned to assess the knowledge and awareness of ethics among first-year undergraduate medical students at the beginning of the foundation course and after 40h of ethics training during the course. Materials and Methods: A standard 35-item questionnaire was administered to the first-year medical students at the beginning of the foundation course and after 40h of ethics training/teaching scattered throughout the foundation course. No personal information was recorded on the questionnaire to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Results: There was a significant increase in the knowledge regarding some of the items in the questionnaire, such as "patient's wishes must always be adhered to," "if the patient refuses to be treated on religious grounds, they should be instructed to find another doctor." Similarly, there was an improvement in the students' knowledge of the practice of ethics. The students generally agreed that an awareness of ethics is important and should be an integral part of the MBBS curriculum. Conclusion: To prevent ethical erosion, ethics education should be introduced early during the undergraduate years, and continuous reinforcement is vital. We should strive to promote discussions about real occurrences directly involving students.