The Ethics of Using Newly Dead Patients for Teaching and Practicing Intubation Techniques

Abstract

The clinical training of medical students, interns, and residents raises a number of ethical questions. A dilemma faced by all clinical educators is whether to permit a trainee to learn therapeutic and diagnostic procedures by practicing on patients.¹ The dilemma lies in the choice between two obligations: to educate health care providers and to protect the physical and psychological integrity of patients.² The issue of nontherapeutic interventions for training purposes or research in patients who have not given consent raises the most intriguing and controversial ethical questions.³ A common practice is the teaching and practicing of intubation skills on patients . . .