PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Edison Iglesias de Oliveira Vidal
AU  - Vanessa dos Santos Silva
AU  - Maria Fernanda dos Santos
AU  - Alessandro Ferrari Jacinto
AU  - Paulo José Fortes Villas Boas
AU  - Fernanda Bono Fukushima
TI  - Why Medical Schools Are Tolerant of Unethical Behavior
AID  - 10.1370/afm.1763
DP  - 2015 Mar 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 176--180
VI  - 13
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/13/2/176.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/13/2/176.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2015 Mar 01; 13
AB  - The exposure to unethical and unprofessional behavior is thought to play a major role in the declining empathy experienced by medical students during their training. We reflect on the reasons why medical schools are tolerant of unethical behavior of faculty. First, there are barriers to reporting unprofessional behavior within medical schools including fear of retaliation and lack of mechanisms to ensure anonymity. Second, deans and directors do not want to look for unethical behavior in their colleagues. Third, most of us have learned to take disrespectful circumstances in health care institutions for granted. Fourth, the accreditation of medical schools around the world does not usually cover the processes or outcomes associated with fostering ethical behavior in students. Several initiatives promise to change that picture.