Advances in medical education and practice
Professional Ethics Education and Moral Sensitivity in Public Health Students: A Pilot Quasi-Experimental Study
By Masoudi R and Rabiei L.
Abstract
Background
Public health professionals frequently encounter complex ethical dilemmas, yet dedicated ethics courses are often absent from curricula. This pilot study aimed to explore potential associations between a structured professional ethics course and self-reported moral sensitivity in undergraduate public health students using a controlled but non-randomized design. Given the exploratory nature of this study, all findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive.
Methods
A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design was conducted with 53 undergraduate public health students (intervention group=25, control group=28). The intervention group participated in a 16-hour active-learning-based professional ethics course; the control group followed the standard curriculum. Moral sensitivity was measured using a newly developed questionnaire with established content and face validity but without confirmed construct validity at three time points. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models with bootstrap sensitivity analyses. Given the design limitations, no causal claims are inferred.