Identifying Sources of Moral Distress Among Medical Students in the Clinical Learning Environment
Thursday, October 12, 2023
8:15 AM – 9:30 AM ET
Location: Bristol (Third Floor)
The transition in medical school from classroom to clinical learning introduces students to the challenges of “real world” clinical medicine, which begins the most formative period of medical education. During this period, students often experience clinical encounters that evoke many strong reactions, including moral distress. Unless there are dedicated opportunities in the formal curriculum to reflect and discuss those clinical encounters, their effect may remain unknown in the hidden curriculum, possibly causing harm. Moral distress occurs when an individual feels they are in a situation that compels them to act in a manner about which they have serious moral concerns or explicitly feel is morally wrong, and from which they cannot escape.
While some research shows moral distress is a serious concern among medical students, there is a dearth of actual clinical scenarios in the literature that illustrate the major sources of moral distress. This presentation will draw from an IRB study to present some of the most common morally distressing situations experienced by medical students, focusing on 25 representative case vignettes in which moral distress was experienced. An in-depth qualitative analysis of these vignettes will be done to identify some of the main sources of moral distress, which will be further analyzed for major themes such as poor role modeling, lack of respect for others, and ineffective communication. The presentation will conclude with a critical review of pedagogical strategies to ameliorate the ill effects of experiences that elicit moral distress by using them as critical opportunities for professional growth.
Daniel Kim – Alden March Bioethics Institute – Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College; Wayne Shelton – Alden March Bioethics Institute – Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College