2020, Vol.23, No.4

Korean Journal of Medical Ethics 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.21

pISSN : 2005-8284 / eISSN : 2234-3598
https://journal.kci.go.kr/medethics

Clinical ethics can enhance medical care by addressing the value-related issues that arise in clinical practice. However, in order for clinical ethics to play this role, further research is needed on value-related issues, especially those that relate to the practice of medicine. Ethics education for clinical practice should be designed according to the empirical research results described in this article.

A total of 423 articles published in the Korean Journal of Medical Ethics between the years 1998 and 2020 were reviewed and classified. Of the total 423 papers screened, 216 articles (51.1%) covered clinical ethics. For analysis, six major categories and 25 subcategories were identified by referring to the contents of six clinical ethics textbooks. The six major categories consisted of theory and methodology, birth to death, doctor-patient relationships, professionalism, policy and legal issues, and others. Subcategories that have received extensive coverage in the 216 clinical articles identified include life-sustaining treatment, medico-legal issues, medical systems, and issues at the beginning of life (e.g. abortion). However, few if any articles have been published on topics in other subcategories, including truth-telling, impaired colleagues, gifts from patients, confidentiality, denial of treatment, unproven treatment, or physical/sexual abuse. This study highlights some of the areas of research that the Korean Journal of Medical Ethics should attempt to include in future editions of the journal in order to provide a more balanced coverage of the field of clinical ethics.

Clinical ethics is an essential part of good clinical practice. The purpose of clinical ethics education is to promote competence in ethical reasoning based on relevant laws and guidelines, including professional codes of conduct.