New Ethics Instruction Tool to Be Introduced in Québec

Ragan Cohn
Managing Director, NCCPA Foundation

A new DVD-based educational program designed to stimulate meaningful discussion about ethical issues important to PA study and practice will be unveiled at the PAEA Annual Education Forum in Québec.

Concepts in PA Excellence: Exploring Ethics dramatizes six ethical issues in a professionally produced DVD. Its accompanying facilitators’ guide provides instructors with suggestions for preparation, a discussion guide, handouts that can be reproduced for students, and other valuable teaching tools.

Exploring Ethics, the first major initiative of the new NCCPA Foundation, was produced in collaboration with the NCCPA and PAEA. The Foundation will provide a set of the materials to each PA program later this year, but to be among the first to receive a copy, plan to attend the session, “New Tools for Teaching PA Ethics,” at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 25.

In scripting and producing these dramatizations, we sought to shine a light on ethical issues that can be unexpected stumbling blocks for even the most well-meaning health care professionals. We hope that by seeing ethical issues come to life on screen, PA students will gain a deep understanding of those issues that they’ll carry with them throughout their careers. Paul Lombardo, faculty co-chair of the 10-member advisory panel that steered the program’s content development, commented: “Everyone involved in this project is excited about its potential to add a new dimension to the way we teach ethics in PA programs.”

Exploring Ethics includes two cases that address integrity during examinations, one focusing on academic integrity in programs and the other on the PANCE testing process, issues of particular importance to PAEA and NCCPA. Other cases address substance misuse, prescribing practices, responsible reporting, and potential ethical dilemmas stemming from PAs’ relationships to supervising physicians.

“This project is a great example of what can be accomplished when PA organizations work together for the greater good of the public and the profession,” said Lombardo. “I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues in Québec.”