Medical Ethics Training

Answer choices

1. A

   How vs. Why6% picked this

   to advise medical schools on how to implement a narrative-based approach to ethics

   The passage is definitely advising medical schools to implement a narrative-based approach, but it's not telling them how to implement it (which teachers to hire / where to fit it in the med student's curricular journey / which works of literature to cover / etc.) Instead, the author is basically establishing the value of having a narrative-based approach and also answering some potential objections to doing so.

   6%
2. B

   Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Solution9% picked this

   to argue that the current methods of ethics education are counterproductive to the formation of

   Given that this was a Problem / Solution type passage, we want the Solution front and center in our correct answer to Main Point or Primary Purpose. This answer feels more like a Challenge Position type passage, but the author wasn't spending her time chopping down the current methods and saying that they're counter-productive (actually make the situation worse). She just starts by identifying "one of the greatest challenges" for med students, identifies "training in ethics that focus on narrative literature" as one means of addressing that challenge, and then spends the bulk of the passage explaining how "narrative ethic training" could be beneficial. When it comes to the current methods (relying heavily on abstract, philosophical ethics), the author says that "the conceptual clarity provided by [the current methods] can be valuable, but it contributes little to understanding of everyday human experience". Saying current methods contribute little means they aren't helping much. Saying current methods are counterproductive mean that they're actually hurting.

   9%
3. C

   Contradicted1% picked this

   to argue that the ethical content of narrative literature foreshadows the pitfalls

   Contradicted: foreshadows pitfalls Wrong Emphasis: situational ethics There's no reason we should be expecting situational ethics to show up in our correct answer. It was a tiny bit player, not one of the starring roles. Furthermore, in the final paragraph, the author is anticipating objections to her recommendation for narrative based ethics by saying, "Don't worry -- it's not headed for the same pitfalls of situational ethics. It's not going to mean that we relinquish all moral principles, as we unfortunately do with situational ethics."

   1%
4. D

   Correct76% picked this

   to propose an approach to ethical training in medical school that will preserve the human

   Why this is right

   This sounds the most like "to offer a Solution to a Problem". The problem, traced out in the beginning of the passage, was that med students get so bogged down in the science and technical language of what they're learning that they risk "disconnecting from the personal and ethical aspects of doctoring" (i.e. the human dimension of medicine). The solution that the author proposes is to have ethical training that's based in narrative literature. The 2nd paragraph establishes that the current theoretical approach to ethics fails to capture the human dimension: - theorizing about ethics contributes little to the understanding of everyday human experience - a true foundation in ethics must be predicated on an understanding of human behavior - such literature attaches its readers so forcefully to the concrete and varied world of human events

   Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   76%
5. E

   Wrong Emphasis: doesn't mention Solution7% picked this

   to demonstrate the value of a well-designed ethics education for

   The author's main goal is to sell us on the idea of using narrative literature to teach ethics to med students. She thinks that this is one way of achieving a well-designed ethics education for med students. This answer has nothing to do with "convincing us that narrative literature is a valuable tool for ethics training". This answer is saying that the author is trying to "convince us that a well-designed ethics education is worth it / it has value". According to this answer, the bulk of the passage is spent explaining to us how a good ethics education will LATER yield value. The first paragraph definitely alludes to some of the potential value: - it will helps physicians grabble with modern ethical dilemmas - it will help them develop new ways of thinking about and interacting with patients But the author establishes that strong ethical training has value (in the 1st paragraph) so that she can then suggest a means of obtaining that strong ethical training (narrative literature), which she then defends in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4.

   7%