Eroding Medical Ethics

“A few days ago, the Mayo Clinic released the results of a study on the relationship between burnout and ethics among students at seven medical schools across the country. The study’s first result, which was not surprising, was that more than half of the students reported burnout. More surprising was its finding that 40% of 3rd and 4th year students admitted to ‘some form of unprofessional conduct in relation to patient care,’ such as saying they’d done an exam when, in fact, they hadn’t. Also surprising was the study’s finding that only 14% of those students had an opinion about ‘appropriate interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical companies.'”