ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on the challenges and opportunities when medical ethics moves into clinical classrooms. First, it reflects on the aims of medical ethics teaching and whether the development of the virtuous doctor is a legitimate teaching aim. Next, the chapter considers organisational challenges specific to the UK as well as the challenges of resources and teaching expertise, role modelling, assessment and the translation of ethical thinking into ethical practice. It then considers how these challenges can be addressed, drawing on curriculum development and delivery within the author’s UK teaching institution, new teaching technologies and the wider educational literature. A case is made for expanding the role of humanities teaching to complement and enhance medical ethics. The chapter concludes that whilst there are considerable challenges there are also great opportunities for medical ethics to engage with a wider community of teachers to enable better translation of ethical thinking into ethical practice in ways that encourage the development of virtuous doctors.
