Medical Ethics

Clinical record keeping is an integral component in good professional practice and the delivery of quality healthcare. Regardless of the form of the records (i.e. electronic or paper), good clinical record keeping should enable continuity of care and should enhance communication between different healthcare professionals. 

In this online course we will present the importance of keeping good clinical records, ways of facilitating this and an overview of legal aspects linked with clinical record keeping.

The following topics will be covered: 

1. Why do I need to keep good records?

2. What do I need to record and how?

3. Are there any legal issues I should be aware of?

4. Accuracy and legibility of content

5. Confidentiality and data protection

6. Patients’ access to medical records

This on-line course provides frequently asked questions regarding ethical considerations of COVID-19 pandemic for Healthcare Providers.

The health care profession-patient relationship is the cornerstone of medical practice and therefore of medical ethics. 

This on-line course will discuss:

• Respect and equal treatment

• Ending a patient-HP relationship

• HIV/AIDS

• Sexual attraction

• Treating family members

• Communication & consent, case study #1 included

• Obstacles for good communication plus case study #2   

• Abusing medical resources including case study #3

• Futile treatment

After working through this course, you should be able to:

• explain how medical decisions should be made for patients who are incapable of making their own decisions;

• explain the justification for patient confidentiality and recognise legitimate exceptions;

• recognise the principle ethical issues surrounding the beginning and end of life;

• summarise the arguments for and against the practice of euthanasia/assisted suicide; and the difference between these actions and palliative care or foregoing treatment.

After working through this on-line course you should be able to:

• describe how health care professionals should behave toward one another

• justify reporting colleagues unethical behaviour 

• identify the main ethical principles relating to cooperation with others in the care of patients

• resolve conflicts with other health care providers

Children are not just a smaller version of adults and it is often difficult to determine when actions are truly "in the best interest of the child". When should we intervene and when are children capable of making their own decisions?

How much information do children need? Is it always in the best interest of the child to have the parent present during treatments? 

The purpose of this online course is to equip healthcare providers with the knowledge to adequately address the rights of children in healthcare.  

After completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand national and international legal frameworks for the rights of children in healthcare.

• Reflect critically on the rights of children in healthcare.

• Advocate for the rights of these children.

• Understand the healthcare professional dilemma to report or not report child abuse.

This Ethics course is suitable for Physiotherapists, Biokineticists and Podiatrists in private practice.  It deals with the latest HPCSA regulations on advertising and making professional services known.

Restraints of trade are often a hot topic across all professions and are important for both employers and employees to take note of.  Before you sign a restraint of trade agreement read this on-line course carefully and consult with a lawyer if there’s anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.

*Fast track = fast track your learning with our short online courses

How can you, as a health care professional balance the needs of the sports team or organization that is paying your bills, the athlete’s (your patient’s) desire to perform while in pain and with injury; and the economic consequences of playing/not playing  for both the athlete and the team/organization? 

This comprehensive course examines some of the difficult legal and ethical issues, the potential consequences surrounding the decisions  sports medicine practitioners have to make in this age of professional sport.  

• confidentiality aspects of disclosure such as injury, use of drugs, alcohol or psychological issues that may impact player’s performance;
• the ethical implications of performance enhancing drugs; and
• playing or competing with an infectious disease.

There are many ethical dilemmas that are unique to sports medicine because of the unusual clinical environment of caring for players within the context of a team whose primary objective is to win. Sports doctors and health care providers are frequently under intense pressure, whether implicit or explicit, from management, coaches, trainers and agents, to improve the performance of the athlete in the short term rather than consider the long-term sequelae of such decisions. In this course, a number of ethical principles and how they relate to sports medicine are discussed. A list of guidelines has been drawn up to offer some support to doctors and health care providers facing an ethical dilemma, the most important of which is ‘do not hand over your responsibility to the individual player.

Ethics relates to far more than a simple understanding of that which is legally permissible in society.  A nuanced understanding of ethical issues adds depth and meaning to what it takes to live as a mature human in an increasingly complex world.  As healthcare practitioners we owe it to ourselves and our patients to act ethically and responsibly so as to benefit all those who seek our help.  

This course provides the perfect introduction to the ethical challenges we face in our practices.

Ethics relates to far more than a simple understanding of that which is legally permissible in society.  A nuanced understanding of ethical issues adds depth and meaning to what it takes to live as a mature human in an increasingly complex world.  As healthcare practitioners we owe it to ourselves and our patients to act ethically and responsibly so as to benefit all those who seek our help. 

This course provides the perfect introduction to the ethical challenges we face in our practices.

This online course will discuss the following topics:

• Fear and acceptance of death

• Why do people fear death?

• The Health Professionals response

• Helping patients who have cancer

• Refusing therapy

This online course will discuss the following subjects:

• Sexual harassment

• Drug abuse by professionals

• Fraud

This online teaching will discuss the following issues:

• Whistle-blowing

• Family violence

• Reporting child abuse

• Reporting elder abuse

Brain-dead, mechanically ventilated patients are considered to be biologically dead.  However, these unfortunate patients appear to be alive as a result of the fact that mechanical ventilation ensures that their heart continues to beat, that their skin remains warm, that their wounds continue to heal, that their body does not decay, and (of course) that they continue to breathe.  This emotional and ethical scenario is discussed here.

 *Fast track = fast track your learning with our short online courses

This on-line course will discuss the issue of whether it really would be desirable to increase our lifespan, cognitive power, physical strength (etc.), above and beyond that which we currently consider to be healthy or normal.

*Fast track = fast track your learning with our short online courses

On 24 July 2017, the long-running, deeply tragic and emotionally fraught case of Charlie Gard reached its sad conclusion.  Following further medical assessment of the infant, Charlie’s parents and doctors finally reached agreement that continuing medical treatment was not in Charlie’s best interests. Life support was subsequently withdrawn, and Charlie died on 28 July 2017.  Ethical issues related to the case are considered. 

*Fast track = fast track your learning with our short online courses

Functional MRI of fully awake and unrestrained dog ’volunteers’ has been proven an effective tool in understanding the neural circuitry and functioning of the canine brain.  Studies show that there exists a striking similarity between dogs and humans in the functioning of the caudate nucleus (associated with pleasure and emotion), and dogs experience positive emotions, empathic-like responses and demonstrate human bonding which, some scientists claim, may be at least comparable with human children.  This article therefore contends that using dogs in invasive and/or harmful research, and toxicity testing, cannot be ethically justifiable.

The ethics of the placebo: nothing to do with you.  Right? Because placebos are used only in research situations – right? 

Wrong. Placebos are increasingly being used in clinical practice. Indeed, in some instances, use of placebo could even be a moral imperative. However, their use often places the practitioner in a difficult ethical position. Doesn’t using placebo mean you have to lie to your patient? 

This course offers guidelines for using the placebo in your practice.

After working through this on-line course you should be able to:

• identify the main principles of research ethics.

• know how to balance research and clinical care.

• satisfy the requirements of ethics review committees.