[The development of ethics. Identifying what training in medical ethics is needed by family physicians].

OBJECTIVE To identify what training in medical ethics physician teachers need.

DESIGN Qualitative research study using a modified nominal group technique.

SETTING Family practice units affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine at Laval University in Quebec.

PARTICIPANTS Fifty-three physician teachers in six family practice units.

METHOD During seven meetings, the teachers shared information on clinical situations that had posed ethical problems. Data were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's method. MAIN OUTCOME FINDINGS: The 277 clinical situations were classified under nine themes: ethics; confidentiality; consent, refusal of treatment, and the right to information; level of care and abstention from and cessation of treatment; relationships with pharmaceutical companies and the ethics of research; ethics of teaching; allocation of resources; influence of third parties; and euthanasia and assisted suicide. Learning objectives were developed.

CONCLUSION This research forms the basis of the ethics curriculum in the family medicine residency program at Laval University. It also offers a strategy for integrating ethics into daily teaching activities because the learning objectives derive directly from the concerns of the teaching faculty.