Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Medical schools and residency programs have become very adept at teaching medical students and residents an enormous amount of information. However, it is much less clear whether they are effective at fostering virtuous qualities like empathy or professionalism in trainees. This would come as no surprise to Plato, who famously argued in the Meno that virtue cannot be taught. ⋯ As such, we address the question of the teachability of virtue in the realm of medicine, analysing Plato's contradictory analyses in the Meno and Protagoras, and drawing upon modern neuroscience to turn an empirical lens on the question. We explore the ways in which Noddings' Ethic of Care may offer a way forward for medical educators keen to foster virtue in trainees. We conclude by demonstrating how, by harnessing the power of caring relationships, the principles of Noddings' Ethic of Care have already been applied to medical education at a university in Israel.
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This paper examines the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD, hereafter autism). In so doing we examine some problems in existing diagnostic processes and criteria, including issues of bias and interpretation, and on concepts like the 'double empathy problem'. We then consider how novel applications of AI might contribute to these contexts. We're focussed specifically on adult diagnostic procedures as childhood diagnosis is already well covered in the literature.
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According to an influential taxonomy of varieties of uncertainty in health care, existential uncertainty is a key aspect of uncertainty for patients. Although the term "existential uncertainty" appears across a number of disciplines in the research literature, its use is diffuse and inconsistent. To date there has not been a systematic attempt to define it. The aim of this study is to generate a theoretically-informed conceptualisation of existential uncertainty within the context of an established taxonomy. ⋯ Humans rely on identity, worldview, and a sense of meaning in life as ways of managing the ineradicable uncertainty of our being-in-the-world, and these can be challenged by a serious diagnosis. It is important that medical professionals acknowledge issues around existential uncertainty as well as issues around scientific uncertainty, and recognise when patients might be struggling with these. Further research is required to identify ways of measuring existential uncertainty and to develop appropriate interventions, but it is hoped that this conceptualisation provides a useful first step towards that goal.