Structured learning for clinical ethics in anaesthesia

The ‘SLICE’ model for Structured Learning in Clinical Ethics provides a template to help medical professionals identify their own “moral compass” to provide guidance in complex ethical areas. The model has five domains - Conscience, Compliance, Concurrence, Conversation and Conversion. The use of ‘SLICE’ model as a tool for ethics education has been described in various undergraduate and postgraduate settings. These include teaching ethical aspects of transplantation; legislation for undergraduates and consent in paediatric anaesthesia. Its use as tool for teaching reflective ethical practice has been recently described demonstrating the potential of the SLICE model for supporting appraisal and professional development. In this article, we explore the suitability of the SLICE model to provide a general framework encompassing all the requirements for Ethical Clinical practice in anaesthesia. Good Medical Practice guidance produced by the General Medical Council and guidance provided jointly by the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland is used as the foundation for developing this framework. The Good Practice Guide for anaesthetic departments provides a solid ethical frame work for interpreting and applying Good Medical Practice guidance by the General Medical Council. Tools such as the SLICE model complement the guides produced by the professional organisations by providing a choice of different methods to facilitate education, decision making and reflective practice.