| dc.description | Background: Medical Ethics is structured to guide doctors towards a better professional practice. However, its teaching in medical schools seems to be neglected. Aim: To evalúate the perception of Federal University of Sergipe medical students about ethical conflicts duringtheir academic practice, in two different periods of a medical course. Material ana Methods: A cross-sectional, analytic and observatio-nal study. Using a qualitative approach, analytic categories were identified using an open questionnaire answered by two groups of students, before and after attending the medical ethics course. Results: In everyday practice, the participants referred embarrassment in front of patients. When considering the relationship with the professional/professor, they identified negligence and conflicts of interests in their practice. The students also detected bad infrastructure and professional relationship in public services, when compared to prívate ones. The conflicts experienced by the students in their own practice were insecurity, inability to cope with patients' problems and inadequate perception of medical confidentiality limits. According to the respondents, contribution of ethics teaching varied from adequate, when itwas effective to orient their practice and provide confidence, to inadequate or absent be-cause of an overall superficial approach. Conclusions: Major deficiencies related to the teaching of medical ethics were identified, pointing to the need to change current medical education model. | |
