Bioethics Case Based Teaching Guides for Resident Training

The AAP Section on Bioethics and Committee on Bioethics have together responded to the need for bioethics education in pediatric training programs. We have developed a case-based modular curriculum designed to function as a how-to resource for residency and fellowship training programs. These instructor guides are aimed at assisting pediatric faculty in helping trainees develop basic competencies in bioethics.

Download the full curriculum including all 22 modules here:

The following individual modules review relevant resources and identify current debates important in the teaching of bioethics to medical trainees.

Module 1: Ethics Education and Available Resources
Aleksandra E. Olszewski, MD, MA and Douglas J. Opel, MD, MPH, FAAP

Module 2: Autonomy, Beneficence, and the Rights of Parents and Children Exploring the Application of Ethical Principles in Pediatrics
Christy L. Cummings, MD, FAAP and Mark R. Mercurio, MD, MA, FAAP

Module 3: Informed Consent and Assent in Clinical Pediatrics
Yoram Unguru, MD, MS, MA

Module 4: Minors as Decision Makers
Mara DiBartolomeo, DO, MPH, FAAP and Sheria Wilson, MD, MA, FAAP

Module 5: Religious, Cultural, and Philosophical Objections to Care
Brittany Greene, MD, MA, FAAP and Douglas Diekema, MD, MPH, FAAP

Module 6: Parent-Patient-Pediatrician Relationship: Obligations of Veracity, Fidelity, and Confidentiality
Mary B Adam, MD, PhD, FAAP and Bramwel Simiyu Wekesa, MD

Module 7: Ethical Issues in the Care of Adolescents
Margaret R. Moon MD, MPH, FAAP

Module 8: Availability and Use of Pediatric Enhancements
Ashley Fernandes, MD, PhD, FAAP, Ferdinand D. Yates, Jr, MD, MA, FAAP

Module 9: Infectious Diseases: Vaccine Refusals and Newborn Screening Challenges
Rebecca Propper, MD, FAAP and Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, FAAP

Module 10: "Malpractice and Disclosure of Errors
Caitlyn Tabor, JD and Sadath A. Sayeed, MD, JD

Module 11: Critically Ill Newborns
Kelly M. Werner, MD, MHS, FAAP and Mark R. Mercurio, MD, MA, FAAP

Module 12: Conflicts Between Maternal and Fetal Interests
Susan F. Townsend, MD, FAAP and Nicole T. Christian, MD, MSCS, FACS

Module 13: Genetic and Genomic Testing and Screening of Children
Sarah A. Sobotka, MD, MSCP, FAAP and Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, FAAP

Module 14: Brain Death/Death by Neurological Criteria, Permanent Vegetative State, and Medical Futility
Aliza Olive, MD and Ásdís Finnsdóttir Wagner, DO

Module 15: Training Issues for Residents and Students, Part I: Ethical and Professional Conflicts in the Context of Valued Learning Opportunities
Vanessa Thiel, MD, MPH and Sarah Marzec MD, MA, FAAP

Module 16: Training Issues for Residents and Students, Part II: Ethical and Professional Conflicts that may arise when Trainees Question what they are told to do.
Mark Wells, MD, MA, FAAP and Sebastian Powell, MD

Module 17: Conflict of Interest
Robert C. Macauley MD, FAAP, FAAHPM and Alexis L. Morvant, MD, MA, FAAP

Module 18: Ethics of Global Health Research involving Children and Adolescents
Seema K. Shah, JD, Jennifer Kusma, MD, MS, Annette Rid, MD, PhD

Module 19: Institutional Pediatric Ethics Committees
D. Micah Hester, PhD and Dorothy J. Patterson, MD

Module 20: Justice & Equity in Pediatric Bioethics
Paula Magee, MD, MPH, Aleksandra E. Olszewski, MD, MA and Erin Talati Paquette, MD, JD, MBe

Module 21: Ethical Issues in Pediatric Cardiology
Rupali Gandhi, MD, JD and Kelly Cox, MD

Module 22: Disability and Ethics
Sahana Shankar, MD and Jeffrey P. Brosco, MD, PhD