Teaching Hard Truths About Medicine and the Holocaust

AMA J Ethics. 2021 Jan 1;23(1):E59-63. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2021.59.

Abstract

The Holocaust differs from other instances of mass murder in that it was medically sanctioned genocide. Modern health care ethics was born of the Holocaust, and this article describes numerous misconceptions about medicine's key roles in several events prior to and during the Holocaust. This article also illuminates lessons that should be formally integrated into all health professions ethics curricula.

MeSH terms

  • Curriculum
  • Holocaust*
  • Homicide
  • Humans
  • Medicine*