Mastering the diverse knowledge and complicated approach to disciplines such as ethics, professionalism, and jurisprudence in medicine is a formidable task. It is even more difficult to draw on that knowledge, procure and filter through the clinical or relational situation, develop an understanding of the ethical, legal, and moral issues, and, finally, to reach a reasonable approach. To gain these skills, the student learns best at in real-life situations, guided and instructed by experienced experts, and inspired toward self-directed, diligent reading. Clearly, there is no replacement for education in the real world. Unfortunately, students are often not invited to participate in these situations, and ethics and professionalism issues have long been neglected in the medical student curriculum. Perhaps the best alternative is a carefully crafted cases designed to stimulate the proper approach and the decision-making process. In an attempt to achieve that goal, we have constructed a collection of vignettes to highlight relevant issues and dilemmas.

Most importantly, the explanations for the cases emphasize the major principles, rather than merely rote questions and answers. By contrast to other more clinical disciplines, the subjects addressed in this book require a student to read through the case in a quiet setting, to allow the concepts to percolate and be analyzed. Yet, this text is still organized in the usual case files format: allowing the student "with limited time" to go quickly through the scenarios and check the corresponding answers, and it allows the student who wants thought-provoking explanations to obtain them. The answers are arranged from simple to complex: the bare answers, an analysis of the case, an approach to the pertinent topic, a comprehension test at the end, key points for emphasis, and a list of references for further reading. The text is organized by related subjects such as General, Student Issues, Team Issues, etc, to allow for more complete mastery of an area. A listing of cases is included in Section III to aid the student who desires to test his or her knowledge of a certain area, or to review a topic, including basic definitions.