Abstract:
The issue of informing patients and gaining their consent (or refusal to consent) for various medical interventions was formally recognised in the development of the Code of Health and Disability Consumers’ Rights in 1996. Rights 6 and 7 specifically set out the rights consumers have to be fully informed, to make an informed choice, and the right to give informed consent. Alongside the HDC rights based focus were changes in the doctor-patient relationship – changes that promoted a more patient centred focus - which also supported a paradigm that advocated patients being more involved in the decision-making process concerning their own medical treatment and care. The involvement of medical students in the treatment and care of patients and the obligations students have with respect to the informed consent process has received little academic attention. Yet there is evidence that medical students have troubling ethical experiences with patients regarding the issue of consent. In this discussion I will consider some of the ethical challenges that arose when senior medical students at the University of Auckland identified and discussed their experiences with patients (within the context of consent) as part of their ethics teaching. I will also discuss the consensus document being developed by Auckland and Otago Schools’ of Medicine that arose as a consequence of the consent issues discussed by students.