C.A.R.E.: an approach for teaching ethics in medicine

Various societal factors have contributed to an increase in the ethical dilemmas faced by physicians, yet limited formal training in ethical decision-making is provided for those practitioners during their medical education. The pluralistic nature of contemporary medicine seems amenable to the development of common clinical and educational approaches to ethical dilemmas. The authors propose one such framework -- a four question approach called C.A.R.E. -- that encourages physicians at all levels of training to acknowledge individual and collective factors that enter into ethical decision-making. These questions are clearly described, and examples for use of the model in teaching settings are also provided. The authors believe that this approach can have significant utility in medical education and clinical settings, and advocate for its use and evaluation.