Ethics Students Go to the Jail

Oliver Schirokauer, Thomas A Tallman, Leah Jeunnette, Despina Mavrakis, Monica L Gerrek

This article describes an educational initiative in which clinical ethics students, who were either in a bioethics master's degree program or in the fourth year of medical school, spent two days observing health care in an urban jail. Students submitted reflections about their experience, in which they drew attention to concerns about privacy, physical restriction, due care, drug addiction, mistrust, and the conflicting expectations that arise when incarcerated people become patients. The rotation was of great value to the students both because it exposed them to many of the ethical issues that arise in a correctional setting and because it deepened their understanding of various ethical concerns that are pervasive in health care.