The Non-Formal Curriculum in the Moral Education of Medical Students and Young Physicians Cover Image

Kurs pozaformalny w edukacji moralnej studentów medycyny i młodych lekarzy
The Non-Formal Curriculum in the Moral Education of Medical Students and Young Physicians

Author(s): Kazimierz Szewczyk
Subject(s): History of Philosophy, Philosophical Traditions, Special Branches of Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Hidden curriculum; informal curriculum; null curriculum; medical ethics; moral education; moral professional identity; Władysław Biegański

Summary/Abstract: In the article I discuss three types of non-formal curriculum: the hidden, informal and null curriculum. Their negative impact on the moral education of medical students and physicians is documented through the choice of examples from Polish medical schools and the statements of Polish physicians.I also justify the thesis that the teaching of medical ethics as ethics-as-tools is deeply rooted within the Polish moral cultural tradition. The polemic with Władysław Biegański serves as a means of showing the relation between the medical moral tradition and the belief that medical ethic is of little importance in the moral education of medical students and doctors.I also indicate that the lack of references to medical schools as moral entities within moral education condemns physicians to the solitude of their personal conscience when confronted with moral decisions. This, in turn, promotes the idea of defining this conscience in opposition to the law.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 57
  • Page Range: 61-87
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Polish