Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics

Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021 63
Teaching Professional Ethics and its Role in Improving the Health of Medical
Staff: A Review Study
Received 17 Mar 2021; Accepted 18 May 2021
http://dx.doi.org/10.29252/jhsme.8.1.63
Fariba Dehghani1 , Yadolah Zarezadeh2, Keivan BolandHemmatan3, Jamal Salimi4*
1 Researcher at the Spiritual Health Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran; Ph.D. Candidate in Higher
Education Development Planning, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, University of Kurdistan
of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
3 Associate Professor of Philosophy of Education, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kurdistan,
Sanandaj, Iran
4 Associate Professor in Curriculum Studies, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kurdistan,
Sanandaj, Iran
Introduction
oday, professional ethics is one of the
most important issues in society which
has drawn a lot of attention by many,
including educational systems (1). Ethics in the
world has a 2500-year-old history and is a
branch of philosophy which is called ethical
philosophy or ethics (2). Ethics is divided into
two areas of theory and practice. Professional
ethics is considered the most important part of
practical ethics which deals with ethical issues
in each profession (3). Professional ethics is a
process of rational thinking which aims at
realizing what values should be preserved and
disseminated in an organization. Therefore,
T
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Professionalism is one of the major concerns of human beings in all sciences, especially in medical
sciences, and observing this in various periods of human history is considered one of the most important crises of social life. Any
negligence and failure to observe professionalism can affect the findings of the most scientific and best care. The present study aimed
to examine the role of teaching professionalism in medical community health.
Methods: This review study searched English and Persian databases, including Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Magiran,
Pubmed, and published studies relevant to the subject and library research via an analytical method. Researchers then explored the
texts related to the keywords, such as "training", "professional ethic", and "medical staff health". In total, 320 articles related to the
present study from 2000 to 2020 were selected and analyzed by purposive sampling based on input and output criteria.
Results: After examining the previous articles and studies related to the present study, the results of this study led to the extraction
of key terms and their definitions, including components of professionalism, definition of ethics, and its sub-categories in the form
of theoretical, practical, or scientific ethics.
Conclusion: The findings show that teaching professionalism has a significant role in the health of the medical community, and it
is necessary for policymakers at universities, curriculum planners, and managers to incorporate principles of professional ethics in
the curriculum. In order to institutionalize these principles in all educational periods, the principles of professional ethics should be
taught and assessed constantly.
Keywords: Education, Health, Medicine, Professionalism.
Please Cite This Article As: Dehghani F, Zarezadeh Y, BolandHemmatan K, Salimi J. Teaching Professional Ethics
and its Role in Improving the Health of Medical Staff: A Review Study. Health Spiritual Med Ethics. 2021;8(1):63-73
Review Article Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics. 2021;8(1):63,73
This is an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non
Commercial 4.0 International License
*Correspondence: Should be addressed to Dr. Jamal
Salimi. Email: j.salimi@uok.ac.ir
Teaching Professional Ethics and its Role in Improving
72 Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021
staff ethics, if guided, can create great
opportunities for the realization of health in any
organization (4). Furthermore, it is considered
one of the principal issues in human society,
and if there was a comprehensive definition of
principles of ethics, anyone in any profession
would be able to make a better decision and
know that what behavior would be presumed
rational or irrational and what behavior would
be considered ethical or unethical. Professional
ethics represent a set of rules and virtues, and
these ethical rules are essential for the existence
and continuity of any profession (5).
Although practical ethics is essential in all
professions and occupations directly dealing
with clients, in medical science, it is of
paramount importance since ethical behavior
along with the responsibility of the medical
staff has a significant role in patients’
recuperating (6). Today, medical universities
apart from providing health services as one of
the most crucial educational organizations have
the onus of training skilled and specialized
workforces required for different sections of
society (7). Furthermore, it is the basis of the
oath between the medical science profession
and society which includes professionalism and
professional ethics, providing the best services
along with the professional commitment to
patients. It also reminds the employees of the
health centers that the employees are expected
to be interested in their profession and analyze
their profession and push the institutions toward
excellence and institutionalize the professional
development in given organizations (8).
As a result, incorporation of professional
ethics in rules and regulations is a vital factor in
the growth and development of ethics in the
health and treatment of countries (9) since the
ultimate goal of teaching medical ethics is to
highlight the main purpose of the medical
training that is “training qualified physicians
who are able to observe justice, dignity, and
rights of patients and improve the level of health
in all members of the society” (10). Regarding
the weakness in the system of health all around
the world, teaching health technicians and
patients and focusing more on this area, as well
as the ability of assessment will help improve
patients’ health (11) because the ethical issues
resulted from diagnostic advancement and
modern treatment in medical science raises the
importance of dealing with professional ethics
in this science. Although professional ethics is
one of the main issues in ethics (12, 13), today,
little attention is paid to ethics in the work
environment (14). Therefore, any negligence in
observing ethics can affect the most scientific
and best care (15, 16). Observing or neglecting
ethics can have a negative or positive impact on
the quality of providing health service (17) and
jeopardize the health of medical community.
Accordingly, the present study aimed to
investigate the role of teaching professional
ethics in the health of the medical community.
Teaching Professional Ethics
As human is not born knowing ethics, they
should be trained (18) and educated, as well as
learn to observe the principles of professional
ethics which is of significant importance in all
professional aspects of education, researchbased medical science, and its sub-categories.
Therefore, the responsibility of the medical
universities is training and educating physicians
as well as medical staff who attempt to improve
the health of society after graduation by
fulfilling professional duties and complying
with specific principles in this profession.
However, medical education alone is not
sufficient to educate decent and committed
medical staff, and it seems there should be
rooms for discussing ethics here (19).
Therefore, in order to improve professional
ethics in medical science, it is necessary to
prepare educational plans, assessments, and
interventions from the first years of medical
education and present a plan to ensure its
continuity in the following years (20). The
purpose of this plan is to ensure the competence
of the medical graduates as well (21).
Therefore, the onus is on medical universities
shoulder to institutionalize the ethical principles
in students on the one hand and preparing them
for professional life and executing these ethical
principles in educational-clinical environments
on the other hand, and it seems that these days,
these responsibilities are almost forgotten and
lost their importance (23). This negligence can
have a negative impact on the health and
Dehghani M, et al
Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021 71
treatment sector in the long run because
students as the recipients of the educational
services are the best source of identifying
clinical education problems and drawbacks
since they directly interact and deal with this
process, and making students insensitive to
ethical principles is actually destroying the
main basis of treatment (24).
Many medical students have received
theoretical training in terms of professional
ethics, and indeed, distinguished professors
explained the theoretical basis of professional
ethics and many books on this issue; moreover,
relevant educational programs have only
focused on the theoretical aspects, and the
practical aspect was neglected (25, 26). As
students practically involve in this profession,
they face various problems. Accordingly,
education should cover all phases that help
improve abilities, skills, and other positive
behaviors in society (27). Therefore, education
at university can present the best opportunity
for students to grow ethically and
professionally. Students should be able to
enhance their behavior and make the right
ethical decisions during the training and as a
result, have an appropriate model in their
workplace to follow (28).
According to the findings of various studies,
including SASO systematic review, nurses
(who are important members of the health
sector and the largest staff of hospital) have
little information on how to interact with
patients, and they even do not know how to treat
patients properly (29) although the most major
impediment to observe professional ethics
criterion in nurses’ performance is a dearth of
personnel and inappropriate work shifts (30).
With respect to nursing ethics and teaching
ethics, there is no specific strategy to teach
nursing ethics (31). Therefore, in order to
improve professional ethics and raise
employees’ awareness of principles of
professional ethics, education and specific
attention on the part of top managers are
necessary (32). All medical staff should be
completely familiar with the principles of
professional ethics since delivering timely and
appropriate care to patients is considered the
most important outcome of observing patients’
rights (33).
This care is in line with professional ethics
which boost patients’ welfare (34). Therefore,
to promote professional ethics, it should be
educated practically, and learners are required
to be assisted to gain skills necessary for
ethical judgments and the ability to analyze
ethical aspects (35). This can maximize the
efficiency and quality of health care through
training medical staff and raising their
awareness in terms of professional ethics (36).
As a result, health care systems and
administrators are responsible for creating a
suitable environment via applying constant
practical training with respect to professional
ethics and moral virtues (37). In fact, education
and passing the moral and cultural values to
medical students should take place with the
help of curriculum and professors (38, 39)
since students perceive universities and
educational settings as a holy place, and
complying with ethics is considered of
paramount importance. Moreover, witnessing
abnormal behavior not only questions
students’ dignity but also marginalizes the
training atmosphere that results in a different
perception of the educational setting (40).
As Siegler states, professional ethics in
medicine is ethics in practicing medicine (41).
Medical students in their senior years of
training fully understand the importance of this
subject which is one of the most debated and
important discussions in medical ethics.
Teaching professional ethics in medical science
at ethical workshops and only at the beginning
of clinical courses does not suffice. Moreover,
training should take place actively and
constantly at hospitals and at patients’ bedsides
(42).
Thomasma and Pellegrino argue that one of
the reasons that moral virtues are not revived at
medical training centers is the lack of moral
content and practical guidelines or certain
professional rules and regulations (43).
Therefore, the whole educational system as a
unified system should come up with the
solution to this problem; in addition, compiling
a comprehensive plan for the development of
practices and ethical competencies turn decent
ethical ideas into beneficial ethical
Teaching Professional Ethics and its Role in Improving
72 Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021
performances with the help of the development
of innovative content (44).
This fact should be considered in all subgroups of medical sciences, especially those
groups who directly deal with patients in
clinical environments, such as medical students
who, during their education, subconsciously
form a certain view of patients and diseases
which stays with them throughout their
professional practice. This subconscious is
formed during clinical training (45).
As a result, the clinical environment plays an
integral role in the process of training medical
professions (46), and training at the patient’s
bedside is one of the important parts of clinical
training because the time spent with patients is
full of visual, auditory, and tactile experiences.
Accordingly, one should try hard to maximize
the improvement of this type of education as
most learners believe that real learning takes
place in clinical environments (47). Clinical
professors play a significant role in shaping the
moral and professional personalities of the
students and cultivate moral virtues in them
(48). As clinical professors are fundamental
elements in the process of clinical training, they
are regarded as important players in planning
and gaining clinical experiences (ibid).
However, according to previous studies,
observing professional ethics on the part of
professors in clinical areas is at an
unsatisfactory level and is a way far from the
desired expectations (48, 49). Therefore, the
creation of a general framework for improving
ethical culture in the organization, regulating
formal educational programs for professors,
constant training and updating principles of
professional ethics, paying more attention to
medical staff, and training during in-service are
necessary (50). Accordingly, special attention
should be given to professional ethics and its
challenges from the students’ and faculty
members’ perspectives (51), as well as
university administrators’ treatments and
faculty members’ professional ethics which
play an important role in the improvement of
educational performance (52).
Topics that are of high importance with respect
to this subject include the concept of medical
ethics and medical rights which encompasses the
following terms as professionalism, informed
consent, independence, confidentiality, and
confidence in the doctor-patient relationship in
terms of legal and ethical aspects (53). In recent
studies, researchers defined eleven components
in this area which include conscientiousness,
professional excellence, decency, respect to
others, altruism, commitment to social justice,
time management, emotional intelligence,
confidentiality, ethical knowledge, and ethical
sensitivity (54). Since confidence is an
influential factor in people’s view and attitude
toward their own ability and capacity which
determines the types of individual behavior, in
order to increase solidarity and integration,
culture of confidence should be institutionnalized in hospitals so that in addition to
improving the quality of individual and
organizational relationships and purposive
processes, accountabilities increase (55). As a
result, extensive studies on the identification
and teaching principles of ethics are essential
(56). Teaching professional ethics in
organizations and its observance are necessary
to prevent the society from experiencing
conflict on the one hand and ensure the longterm benefits by making rational and wise
decisions on the other hand (57). Therefore, it is
necessary to conduct studies on professional
ethics to identify ethical failures, organize
educational programs, and set up an evaluation
system as well as self-reports of errors (58).
These factors are justifiable to pay more
attention to reviewing and teaching professional
ethics and institutionalizing principles of ethics
in all sciences and organizations, especially the
medical community.
In the research area, observing principles of
professional ethics plays an important role in a
way that knowing and observing these
principles and ethical codes in research is the
building block and basic principle of the study.
One should consider this point that one of the
important challenges of ethics in research is
scientific misconduct. In fact, scientific
misconduct is considered the lack of observing
common principles and ethical codes in
conducting scientific studies and publication of
the findings. Different types of scientific
misconduct include forgery, distortion, and
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Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021 71
plagiarism (59) that is the most common
misconduct in medical sciences (60).
Therefore, teaching professional ethics in three
areas of treatment, education, and research
immensely contribute to the health of the
medical community.
Methods
This review study searched English and
Persian databases, including Scopus, Google
Scholar, Web of Science, Magiran, Pubmed,
and published studies relevant to the subject and
library research via an analytical method.
Following that, the researchers explored the
texts related to the keywords of "training",
"professional ethic", and "medical staff health".
In total, 320 articles related to the present study
from 2000 to 2020 were selected and analyzed
by purposive sampling based on input and
output criteria. The criteria for selecting were
empirical studies and review studies that
emphasized providing teachings of professional
ethics. Non-scientific articles without authors
and dates were removed from the search
process. In the end, 70 articles that were
completely relevant were examined thoroughly.
In order to extract and synthesize the data, one
of the researchers examined the texts of the
articles thoroughly and extracted the most
important points pertinent to the purpose of the
study. For this purpose, data were categorized
narratively, and narrative summaries were
arranged. In order to increase the accuracy of
the study, three other researchers reviewed and
analyzed the resulted data via reexamining the
process of texts analysis.
Result
After reviewing previous articles and studies
pertinent to the subject of the study, the key
concepts were extracted, and their definitions
(definition of ethics, its subcategories, as well
as theoretical and practical ethics) were
examined in Table 1. Moreover, the effects of
Table 1. Parts of the studied articles

No	Author (s)	Year	Title	Population and research place	Number of samples	Research method and type of study	Tools	Results
1	Monavar M Ajzadeh, Reza Hoveida, and Saeed Rajaeepour	2019	Structural model of ethical leadership relationship of university administrators with an educational performance of faculty members with their professional ethics as a mediator	All faculty members of Azad universities in northern, southern, eastern, central, and western areas	400	Descriptive correlation and factor analysis	SPSS 23 and Amos Graphic	Observance of principles of professional ethics by leaders, administrators, and faculty members has an important role in improving the performance of the educational system
2	Carla Sanderz, Deborah Palesi, and Jhom Luis	2018	A systematic review and conceptual framework for teaching health in health-related occupations	Bachelors’ students majoring in professional health Australia	28	Review and systematic content analysis	Not mentioned	Future research should focus on identifying and agreeing upon the definition of health literacy to create suitable structure and opportunities for the education process among health literacy professionals. It is also necessary to have a better understanding of the effect of teaching health literacy on specific health students in a specific period curriculum planning and training workforce
3	Omid Yaghini, Aidin Parniya, Alireza Monajemi, and Saeedeh Daryazadeh	2018	Designing a tool for evaluating clinical qualifications among medical students in pediatrics wards	Medical students during internship and faculty members of pediatrics wards from Isfahan, Shahrekord, and Hamadan Universities	77	Cross-section	SPSS	Preparing content of clinical interns’ competency evaluation 1.The content they should learn 2.Content that learners would better know

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72 Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021

4	Noori Kaab Omair, Montahi Mousavi, and Abdolzahra Na’ami	2018	The relationship between effective internal factors in organizations and nurse’s observance	All the nurses of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Karami hospitals in Ahvaz	196	Descriptive analytical or simple random sampling Multiple regression analysis	SPSS (version 22)	Promotion and demonstration of ethical behaviors by nurses’ managers can result in an increase in showing ethical behavior among nurses
Table 1. Continued
5	Shirin Ghazi, Hossein Mehrdad, and Mehri Darabi	2018	Designing professional ethics for physicians : Delphi model	Documents of previous studies and 14 members of ethic specialists	14	Qualitative Delphi method	Not mentioned	Using ethical treatments model including 11 components of conscientiousness, professional excellence, decency, respect to others, altruism, commitment to social justice, time management, emotional intelligence, confidentiality, ethical knowledge, and ethical sensitivity
6	Hadi Poursahafei and Kheironesa Ramzanzadeh	2018	Examining desired ethics and ethics of status quo Observance of professional ethics of professors from a viewpoint of students at Birjand University of Medical Sciences	Students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences	302	Quantitative cross-sectional and analytic	SPSS (version 19)	Teaching ethics status quo compared to the desired situation is a way behind and components of professional ethics are: 1. Individual values; accountability, intimacy, sacrifice, loving science 2.Social values: justice, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, paying attention to criticisms, team spirit 3.Religious-ethical values; adherence to religious beliefs,confidentiality and self control and courage 4.Professional values: knowledge and professional competency, punctuality and discipline
7	Hossein Jafari, Morteza Khaghanizadeh, Jamileh Mokhtari Nouri, and Masood Siratinayer	2017	Strategies for developing the teaching of nursing ethics	Undergraduate and graduate students from universities all around the world	1648	Review with an eclectic approach	Not mentioned	An important impact of novel methods of teaching professional ethics on the growth of professional behavior among nurses
8	Tayebeh Hafgparastlati, Ezatola Naderi and Maryam Seifnaraghi	2017	Designing the desired model for primary school curriculum incorporating spiritual concepts and evaluation the viewpoint	All curriculum experts and Gilan primary school teachers	8686	quantitative	Descriptiv e and inferential statistics	We can use the desired model of the curriculum in the social study courses to cultivate spirituality in primary school students
9	Hye-A Yeom, Sung-Hee Ahn, and Su-Jeong Kim	2017	The effect of teaching ethics on nursing students’ ethical sensitivity	Undergraduate students nursing in Seoul	70	Interventional	Not mentioned	There is a need for constant attempt to develop creative content, educational structure, and methods for teaching ethics of nurses in the bachelor degree
10	Siroos Asadian and Vahideh Rahimzadeh	2017	Reflection of professional ethics in nursing major curriculum	Third, fourth, and fifth-year students of nursing at Tabriz Azad University	150	Survey-analytical	T-tests of one sample and Freedman rank tests	The ethical components with the greatest reflection in the curriculum: loyalty, accountability, and honesty
11	Alberto Giubilini, Sharyn Milnes, and Julian Savulescu	2016	Medical ethics curriculum at medical colleges; now and future	Medical colleges of England, the US, and Australia	Not mentioned	Review	mentioned Not	Teaching ethics of pre-clinic in medical universities of the Us and Canada: informed consent, issues related to the end of the life, confidentiality, telling the truth, specifying rare resources, evaluation of patient’s competency, and access to care
12	Saeed Khayatmoghadam and Seyyedeh Mahdieh Tabatabeenasab	2016	Components of professional ethics in management	All managers of Kimia Tose Sandbad housing cooperative	31	Qualitative	Freedman test	Components of professional ethics: accountability, confidence in God, honesty, and justice
13	Adel Zohdbabelan et al.	2016	The role of cognitive ability in building a relationship between professional ethics and professional eagerness on nurses part	Nurses working at state-run hospital in Urmia	300	Descriptive correlational	SPSS 16 & Lisrel 8.8	Observing professional ethics contributes to enabling the nurses professional ethics with the following components: accountability, honesty, justice, fairness, loyalty, empathy, and compliance with social norms
14	Zohresadat Mirmoghtadaee, Soleyman	2013	Explaining the process of professionalism of	Students and professors of medical major	32	Qualitative Content analysis	Struss and Corbin Method in	The close relationship of the concept of professionalism and students’ treatment, preparing

Dehghani M, et al
Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021 71

Ahmadi, and Mohammadali Hosseini

medical students on patients’ bedside

studying or teaching at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

three phases

formal curriculum for the teachers and constant teaching and updating More attention to health staff and the necessity of in-practice teaching, and creating a framework to increase the ethics culture in the organization

teaching principles and components of
professional ethics on improving the health of
the medical community were analyzed in this
study. Components of professional ethics
include conscientiousness, professional excellence, decency, respect to others, altruism,
commitment to social justice, time management,
emotional intelligence, confidentiality, ethical
knowledge and ethical sensitivity, intimacy,
making sacrifices, freedom of speech, loving
science, freedom of choice, paying attention to
criticism and bearing criticism, team spirit, selfcontrol, intimacy, courage, believing in
religions, confidentiality, punctuality, and
discipline.
Those curricula are one of the most important
tools for achieving the general goals and
missions of educational systems in the world
(61) because the curricula and education are
important tools by which human health is
maintained in social, physical, mental, and
spiritual dimensions (62) and as health care
practices become more and more scientific and
sophisticated, most experts reach an agreement
that raising professional ethics competencies
are needed to provide a non-violent and ethical
care program. Therefore, professional ethics
must be included in the curriculum in some
way (63), and officials, as well as managers,
should periodically evaluate the observance of
principles and ethical standards among
employees (64) because the lack of attention to
the principles and foundations of value and
ethics will have an irreparable impact on
society (65).
Discussion
The present study investigated the role of
professional ethics education in the health of the
medical community. The results showed that
the teaching of the principles of professional
ethics from the early years of study until the
student enters the field of practice and
workplace is necessary to continue since this
continuity in teaching and observing these
principles play an important role in students and
staff behavior. The present findings are in line
with the results of a study conducted by
Foroughi, which show that professional ethics
education has a positive effect on moral
performance (66). They are also consistent with
the results of a study performed by Mehrgan
indicating that promoting a sense of
responsibility and accountability in the
workplace provides the basis for
institutionalizing the values of professional
ethics in performing duty (55). The obtained
results are also in line with the findings of a
study carried out by Yeom which examined the
impact of ethics on the moral sensitivity of
nursing students based on the fact that ethics
education and improving the learning effects of
nursing ethics course have improved the level
of health and patient care, and effective
strategies of nursing ethics education are
needed to develop ethical programs with
innovative learning content and training (67). In
2019, a study was conducted by Mahdieh on the
effectiveness of ethical values in the quality of
working life of nurses with the mediating role
of professional ethics. The results of this study
showed that concerning the positive effect of
organizational ethical values on professional
ethics, the provision of different methods to
answer questionable and ambiguous issues
related to ethical values and informing
employees about the results of these measures
could be fruitful (68), which is consistent with
the results of the present study.
Furthermore, Vahedian et al. in their study
entitled "Educational Challenges in Ethical
Decision Making" suggested that clinical
educators, nurses, and students should all be
continuously trained in professional ethics so
that professionalism would be implemented
institutionally in society (69). Their findings are
consistent with the results of the present study
that in order to institutionalize ethical principles
in the medical community, professional ethics
education should be continuous and regarded in
Teaching Professional Ethics and its Role in Improving
72 Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021
all courses of study to achieve the ultimate goal
which is community health.
The results of the present study are also
consistent with the findings of a study
conducted by ZahedBabelan in which the
observance of professional ethics with the
components of responsibility, honesty, justice,
fairness, loyalty, excellence, empathy, and
compliance with social norms empowers nurses
(12). According to the results of a study
performed by Saunders, future research should
focus on identifying an agreed-upon definition
of health literacy to create the appropriate
structure and opportunities for the interprofession education process of health literacy.
There is also a need for a better understanding
of the impact of health literacy training on the
occupational health of specific students over
time, which is also needed for targeted
curriculum planning and workforce training
planning (9). According to the result of a study
by Majdzadeh, the observance of the principles
of professional ethics by leaders, administrators, and faculty members has a significant
role and importance in developing the
performance of the educational system (65).
Conclusion
The results showed that teaching the
principles of professional ethics in the medical
sciences is directly related to the health of the
medical community. To make the teaching of
ethical principles more effective, these
teachings should be done by professors who
consider themselves obliged to observe these
principles both in the practical environment and
in the teaching and learning environment.
Attention to the continuation of professional
ethics, training in all courses of study in
students, especially in clinical and practical
settings, as well as in-service courses for
medical staff, are all pre-requisites that
management-academic policymakers, officials,
and curriculum managers need to train;
moreover, the promotion of professional ethics
are required to include the components and
principles of professional ethics in the
curriculum of all sciences, especially medical
sciences. To be institutionalized, these ethical
principles should be taught and evaluated
continuously in all academic courses.
Therefore, teaching and evaluating the
principles and standards of professional ethics
by exemplary and experienced professors for
students and staff of the medical community
with up-to-date teaching methods and
evaluations based on practical and scientificeducational content, attention to the sensitivity
of health issues, optimal use of professional
ethics principles in health organizations, and the
importance of paying attention to these issues
are inevitable which play a significant role in
developing ethics and improving the health
level of the medical community.
Conflict of interest
The authors state that there is no conflict of
interest in this study.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the staff of
the Vice-Chancellor for Research and
Technology of Qom University of Medical
Sciences, Qom, Iran, and all the professors for
their contribution to this research. This study
was extracted from a specialized Ph.D.
dissertation that was approved on 11/30/2020
by the Ethics Committee of Qom University of
Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran (IR.UOK.
REC.1399.027).
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مقاله مروری سلامت، معنویت و اخلاق پزشکی
73 Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics - Vol.8, No.1, Mar 2021