Medical Ethics in the Pharmacy School Curriculum

May 1, 2025
Student Hub

Medical Ethics in the Pharmacy School Curriculum

In this thoughtful and timely interview, Raveena Baskaran, a PharmD student at the Harrison School of Pharmacy, sits down with Professor Marilyn Bulloch, a dedicated faculty member known for her mentorship and emphasis on professionalism, to explore how medical ethics is taught, internalized, and lived out in pharmacy education. Their conversation delves into the integration of ethical principles within the curriculum, from foundational orientation sessions to clinical rotations where students encounter real-world ethical challenges. Together, they reflect on how the school’s Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct aligns with national standards, how mentorship shapes ethical decision-making, and how pharmacy students evolve into professionals who uphold the integrity of their field. This piece offers valuable insight into the cultivation of ethical awareness and responsibility in one of healthcare’s most trusted professions-perfectly aligning with the focus of this issue on medical ethics.

Q&A

01. How does the Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct at our pharmacy school align with the ASHP Pharmacist Code of Ethics and the Oath of a Pharmacist?

Pharmacy as a profession has had some sort of Oath for thousands of years. As a profession, it may be one of the longest- standing professions to abide by a code of ethics. Our Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct (Honor Code) was developed considering the same principles as the two documents you mentioned: honesty, professionalism, and with the care and welfare of our patients and the public health in mind.

02. What example can you provide of how ethical principles are incorporated into the pharmacy curriculum?

The Harrison School of Pharmacy prides itself on the professionalism component that is woven into every aspect of the College, even if students are not aware of it. We have our Tenants of Professionalism that students are introduced to
in Orientation and sign an agreement that they will abide by them. This is important. Professionalism is not a subject to be memorized. It is a culture of behavioral standards that is taught and cultivated so that it becomes part of the core of a person’s personality. The expectations that we have of our students in the classroom, in experiential training, etc. is a minimum. We also foster involvement and leadership development with a strong mentorship component to ensure that our students are brought into and developed appropriately for this profession. Pharmacy is a profession – that means it is lifelong. You may change employers and jobs, but “Pharmacist” becomes part of your identity and will remain so for the rest of one’s life. Therefore, it is important that everyone who is part of this special group understands and values the same expectations.

03. How are ethical dilemmas presented and discussed in the classroom setting?

Academic honesty is the easy answer here, as it would anywhere. However, there are other, smaller matters. Our students have a lot of group work, where they are given autonomy as adults and young professionals to collaborate for a task, much like they would in the real world.

This always has the potential to introduce ethical issues. What if one student in the group did not participate, or did not participate much? Do we still put their name on the assignment? How can we find a way to work out logistics as a group? From a purely curriculum standpoint, we discuss ethical dilemmas at the very beginning of the P1 year and formally again in the P3 year.

It is also scattered around in various cases and lessons over the curriculum, but it may be Subtle.

04. How do clinical rotations help students apply ethical principles in real-world settings?

Real life is not easy. People cannot afford medicine. People have addictions. People do no have homes or family members to help them. Pharmacies may not be reimbursed the cost of the medicine – and it may not be viable for them to obtain it for a patient. Medication shortages may require rationing. These are all practical scenarios and ones that rotations help introduce students to while there is a seasoned pharmacist around to help the student understand how to best navigate the difficult situation. Human emotion is not something that can fully be taught in the classroom. We can talk about it, but it is entirely different to see it occur with a real person.

05. What role do faculty members play in mentoring students on ethical decision- making during pharmacy school?

At our College, each student has a mentor who is supposed to guide them and help develop them throughout their academic career. This is meant to facilitate the transition from student pharmacist to pharmacist. This is the person that you get to know closely so that you can approach them when there are difficult issues.

06. What resources are available to students who want to deepen their understanding of medical ethics?

Students wanting to participate in research are required to take ethics training (CITI training).

However, even if a student does not want to do research, these courses are great at explaining ethics, providing historical context, and professional development. There are also journal sections and entire journals devoted to biomedical ethics.

07. How do you ensure that students understand and internalize the ethical standards expected of them as future pharmacists?

You can watch a student grow over the course of their time in pharmacy school. There is not a tangible checklist, but you can see the respect and the commitment to the profession and
to patient care takes root and fosters. Often, students are the harshest judges of any peer who does act un-ethically. This makes my heart happy because they are holding their peers to the standards they should be held to, and they are doing it innately.

08. Can you share any success stories of students who have excelled in ethical decision-making in their professional careers?

I have stories- but I am not sure, for privacy reasons, if I am allowed to share specifics. I can tell you that I have had students who made mistakes while in pharmacy school. They dealt with the penalty. Some were given a professionalism mentor (in addition to their regular mentor) for a certain duration and went on to become members of the profession to be proud of.

Interviewed by Raveena Baskaran
Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy
Pharm.D. Candidate, 2028
Albert Schweizer Fellow, 2025

Marilyn Bulloch, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCM

Associate Clinical Professor
Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy

Marilyn Novell Bulloch, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCM is an Associate Clinical Professor at Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy and serves as the Director of Strategic Operations, the Vice Chair for the Honor Board, and the Content Expert for Ethics. Dr. Bulloch earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from Rutgers University in 2007. She completed residencies in pharmacy practice at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital in 2008, and critical care at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston, West Virginia in 2009. Her practice focuses on adult critically ill and geriatric patients at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is actively involved in various pharmacy and medical organizations and was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine in 2017. Her research interests include geriatric pharmacotherapy, interdisciplinary education, and infectious disease.

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Medical Ethics in the Pharmacy School Curriculum

Q&A

01. How does the Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct at our pharmacy school align with the ASHP Pharmacist Code of Ethics and the Oath of a Pharmacist?

02. What example can you provide of how ethical principles are incorporated into the pharmacy curriculum?

03. How are ethical dilemmas presented and discussed in the classroom setting?

04. How do clinical rotations help students apply ethical principles in real-world settings?

05. What role do faculty members play in mentoring students on ethical decision- making during pharmacy school?

06. What resources are available to students who want to deepen their understanding of medical ethics?

07. How do you ensure that students understand and internalize the ethical standards expected of them as future pharmacists?

08. Can you share any success stories of students who have excelled in ethical decision-making in their professional careers?

Marilyn Bulloch, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCM

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