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Aim To investigate if there are differences in medical ethics education between different schools of medicine in Spain, specifically between private and public schools and between recently founded schools and older ones. Method The curricula of medical degrees from all Spanish faculties were reviewed for the 2014/2015 academic year, identifying subjects concerning bioethics, deontology, and ethics. We identified the type of teaching, format and method of the course, the number of credits and hours, and the school year of each subject. An analysis with descriptive parameters and the Cohen’s coefficient (d) was performed. Results All medical schools in Spain (n = 44) were included. A mean of 3.64 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits was specifically devoted to ethical values teaching in Spain. Private medical schools offered more credits than public ones (6.51 ECTS vs 2.88 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 2.06>>0.8), and the 10 most recently founded medical schools offered more credits than the 10 oldest (5.86 ECTS vs 2.63 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 1.43 > 0.8). A mean of 36.75 hours was dedicated to ethics education. Conclusions Although ethics education is incorporated into the training of future Spanish physicians, there is still notable heterogeneity between different medical schools in the time devoted to this topic.

Aim To investigate if there are differences in medical ethics education between different schools of medicine in Spain, specifically between private and public schools and between recently founded schools and older ones. Method The curricula of medical degrees from all Spanish faculties were reviewed for the 2014/2015 academic year, identifying subjects concerning bioethics, deontology, and ethics. We identified the type of teaching, format and method of the course, the number of credits and hours, and the school year of each subject. An analysis with descriptive parameters and the Cohen’s coefficient (d) was performed. Results All medical schools in Spain (n = 44) were included. A mean of 3.64 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits was specifically devoted to ethical values teaching in Spain. Private medical schools offered more credits than public ones (6.51 ECTS vs 2.88 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 2.06>>0.8), and the 10 most recently founded medical schools offered more credits than the 10 oldest (5.86 ECTS vs 2.63 ECTS, relevant difference: d = 1.43 > 0.8). A mean of 36.75 hours was dedicated to ethics education. Conclusions Although ethics education is incorporated into the training of future Spanish physicians, there is still notable heterogeneity between different medical schools in the time devoted to this topic.

This paper presents some of the thought framework underlying the movement characterized as anthropologische Medizin and medizinische Anthropologie, developed by the Heidelberg School. Drawing particularly upon the work of Viktor von Weizsäcker and Paul Christian, an attempt is made to relate the basic concepts of solidarity and reciprocity to current American bioethical thinking. Attention is paid to the peculiar historical circumstances and consequences of Third Reich medicine and to the critical test of its major forms of theory and practice represented by the Nürenberg doctors’ trial of 1947. A major conclusion need for a more complete reconstruction of the theoretical underpinnings of the Heidelberg School writings and a more thorough study of its relevance to contemporary medical humanities and bioethics.

Advancing the opinion that global mental health supersedes public and international levels and deals with an integrative approach, this paper elaborates some of the implications of a differential ethics theory as outlined by H.M. Sass. Rejecting the extremes of moralizing generalizations and narrow scientific stances, it considers the need for cultural competence and praxis-relevant thinking in ethical evaluation. This does not only apply to the relationships between experts and lay people but also to the pluralistic constitution of ethics committees, in which different epistemic and value cultures must be integrated along a continuum of decision making processes including deontological and teleological stages.