The Ethics of Using Newly Dead Patients for Teaching and Practicing Intubation Techniques

The clinical training of medical students, interns, and residents raises a number of ethical questions, including the issue of nontherapeutic interventions for training purposes or research in patients who have not given consent.

Abstract

An assessment of the justification for allowing\nphysicians-in-training to learn intubation skills by using newly dead patients\naccording to criteria addressing the need for such teaching, the claims of the\ninterested parties, and the results of ethical and legal analyses concludes\nthat the practice is justified and that, ideally, permission should be\nobtained by advance directive or from the next of kin. Open disclosure that\ninstruction in intubation occurs and is both necessary and important will give\npatients the opportunity to refuse the procedure; in the absence of expressed\ndissent, the practice should then be permitted. (KIE abstract)