Ethical Issues in Academic Medicine

Excerpt

The field of medicine continues to evolve rapidly due to the changing healthcare industry, progressive educational models, and high output and dissemination of research. All healthcare professionals should follow current trends and advances in their own subfields and specialties. Healthcare practices that meet the standard of care today could be obsolete in ten years. Academic physicians must abide by the core ethical principles (autonomy, justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence) in their clinical, educational, and research roles. Ethical responsibilities in each of these domains have significant overlap: conflicts of interest can impact one’s research and choice of treatment patients; lapses in faculty self-care can jeopardize the education of trainees and research standards. This StatPearls article will provide a brief overview of the ethical considerations and responsibilities in academic medicine.