THE ROLE OF ETHICAL CASES AND DISCUSSIONS AS PART OF STUDENTS’ EDUCATION OF THE DISCIPLINE "HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT"

"Medical Ethics and Deontology" is one of the disciplines that is strongly committed to the formation of significant professional abilities. Case resolution is a research method of learning that helps students form professional intuition by solving tasks that create real professional preparation or activity.The aim of this study is to analyze students' views on the role of ethical cases and discussions as part of students’ education. 134 students from discipline "Management of Health Care" at the Medical University - Plovdiv were trained.Results and discussion: The majority of the respondents (98.2%) are of the opinion that case studies help them acquire the necessary terminology of medical ethics and freely apply it in their professional practice. Students believe that this method of learning is particularly useful because it provides the opportunity to find answers to real ethical practice cases (78.3%); stimulates understanding of perceptions other than own (68.6%); increasing students' interest in the discipline (52.9%); a large number of participants in the discussion could be involved (44.2%).Conclusion: Discussing and analyzing cases clearly demonstrates the usefulness and practical applicability of this method to medical ethics education. The results show that students are well aware of the tasks and responsibilities they have to perform, but it is very useful for them to have the opportunity to discuss cases and gain competent opinion.