WMA Resolution on the Inclusion of Medical Ethics and Human Rights in the Curriculum of Medical Schools World-Wide

Adopted by the 51^st World Medical Assembly, Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1999,
revised by the 66^th WMA General Assembly, Moscow, Russia, October 2015,
reaffirmed by the 217^th WMA Council Session, Seoul (online), April 2021 and
reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 233rd WMA Council, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, October 2026

PREAMBLE

Medical School curricula are designed to prepare medical students to enter the profession of medicine. Increasingly, in addition to core biomedical and clinical knowledge, they teach skills including critical appraisal and reflective practice. These additional skills help to enable future physicians to understand and assess the importance of published research evidence, and how to evaluate their own practice against norms and standards set nationally and internationally.

In much the same way that anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are a solid base for understanding the human body, how it works, how it can fail or otherwise go wrong, and how different mechanisms can be used to repair damaged structure and functions, there is a clear need for physicians in training to understand the social, cultural and environmental contexts within which they will practice. This includes a solid understanding of the social determinants of health and a strong sense of cultural sensitivity.

Medical ethics includes the social contract made between the health care professions and the societies they serve, based upon established principles, on the limits that apply to medical practice. It also establishes a system or set of principles through which new treatments or other clinical interventions are screened before decisions are made about whether they are acceptable within medical practice. This system reflects a complex intermingling of medical ethics, the duties of physicians to patients, and the rights patients enjoy as citizens.

At the same time, physicians face challenges and opportunities in relation to the human rights of their patients and of populations and will also often be the first to observe and document the infringement of these rights by others, including the state. This places very specific responsibilities upon the observing physician.

Physicians have a duty to use their knowledge to improve the wellbeing and health of patients and the population. This will mean considering social, societal and environmental changes, including legislation and regulation, and can only be done well if they take a holistic view within clinical and ethical parameters, encompassing a wide range of human rights including the rights to health, food, safe drinking water and to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – conditions that enable people to live with dignity and well‑being.

Given the core nature of health care ethics in establishing medical practice in a manner that is acceptable to society and that does not violate civil, political and other human rights, it is essential that all physicians are trained to perform an ethics evaluation of every clinical scenario they may encounter, while also understanding their role in protecting the rights of individuals.

Physicians’ ability to act and communicate in a way that respects the values of the individual patient is a prerequisite for successful treatment. Physicians must also be able to work effectively in teams with other health care professionals, including other physicians.

Failures of individual physicians to recognise the ethical obligations they owe patients and communities can damage the reputation of the medical profession both locally and globally. Therefore, it is essential that all physicians are taught to understand and respect medical ethics and human rights from the beginning of their medical school careers.

In many countries ethics and human rights are an integral part of the medical curriculum, but this is not universal. Too often such teaching is undertaken by volunteers, and it can fail if those volunteers are unable or unavailable to teach, or if the teaching itself is unduly idiosyncratic or inadequately based upon clinical scenarios.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The WMA urges that medical ethics and human rights be taught at every medical school as obligatory and examined parts of the curriculum and that this teaching continue at all stages of postgraduate medical education and continuing professional development.
2. The WMA calls on medical schools to ensure that they have sufficient faculty skilled at teaching ethical enquiry and human rights to make these courses sustainable.
3. The WMA urges physicians to advocate for legislation that supports ethical medical practice.