NEWSLETTER

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Ethical decision-making is as important as scientific understanding in the holistic management of a patient

This is the view of medical doctor and head of the Tygerberg Division of the Unit for Bioethics,  Dr Keymanthri Moodley.

Having trained as a medical doctor in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Dr Moodley has now devoted her career to researching and teaching bio-medical ethics.

"Doctors have an obligation to communicate information to their patients in a way that empowers them to make informed medical decisions for themselves,"  says Dr Moodley who first came into contact with bio-medical ethics when she was asked to lecture in it at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch’s Tygerberg campus.

“I realised I was not qualified to do the job,” says Dr Moodley who in attempt to better understand the subject enrolled for a Masters in Applied Ethics at the University of Stellenbosch. She has recently submitted her doctorate in Research Ethics.

This opened up a new world to her that expanded her view of patient-doctor relationships and of the crucial role that ethics plays in medical research.

The realisation of the importance of ethics in medicine has now grown to the point where it is compulsory for all medical doctors to have some training in it. Medical students now have to complete a course in medical ethics and those doctors who have already trained are obliged to undergo extra training that is accredited by the Health Professions Council.

Dr Moodley says that students in the course are exposed to micro-ethics where the dynamics of a consultation is discussed, as well as issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and how to treat a patient with the respect.

The subject of macro-ethics is dealt with in the course where controversial topics like euthanasia, abortion and genetics are investigated. Global ethics is also part of the course and here, among other topics, students are asked to explore some of the ethical dilemmas involved in collaborative research projects between developed and developing countries.

Students are required in their training to complete assignments on their work in the hospital wards. Discussing one such assignment, Dr Moodley recalls how students were asked to evaluate public hospitals policies on premature babies.

Public hospital policy states that premature babies’ born under 1000 grams do not qualify for intensive care. This is because of the costs of caring such babies in an incubator are too high. However, in a private hospital a premature baby under 1000 grams would be kept alive as long as the parents or their medical aid were prepared to pay the hospital bill. Medical students, are in this instance asked to evaluate some of the ethical difficulties with enforcing this policy at public hospitals.

Part of the work of the Unit for Bioethics also involves training lectures in ethics in each of the different medical disciplines. This “training of the trainers” ensures that students get a thorough grounding in ethics in all disciplines.

The Unit for Bioethics also has an ethics hotmail which medical doctors can consult on points of ethical concern. The e-mail contact details are bioethics@sun.ac.za

For more information on the Unit for Bioethics at the University of Stellenbosch’s Tygerberg campus contact Annemarie Moolman on (021) 9389600.

"The realisation of the
importance of ethics in 
medicine has now grown to the point where it is compulsory for all medical doctors to have 
some training in it. "