Cheating, or helping another cheat, and professional collaboration are two generally opposing ethics that are in a state of transition in light of new technological developments and methodologies in both instructional and actual situations. The antiquated teaching method of memorization and regurgitation is quickly falling by the wayside in modern scholastic environments. While there is some use for it in the early stages of training to “learn the language” of the field, that is where its usefulness ends. In the modern world, much more emphasis is being placed on collaborative education in order to prepare the student for the real world. Indeed, cheat-sheets, process improvement team methodology and knowledge sharing are the order of the day. Cheating in the modern scholastic system can only be accomplished when a student uses unauthorized materials to subvert a test. In collaborative learning, and in real life, there are very rarely any unauthorized materials. Advances in medical science have, in fact, seemed to have changed medical education towards collaborative ethics rather than situations where cheating is even possible. With regards to cheating versus collaborative ethics, we are seeing a true evolution of the medical education process.
In a collaborative training situation, to prepare students for disaster response situations, a student team may be required to have each student perform a tracheotomy on a dummy with materials at hand specifically excluding a tracheotomy kit as an available tool. Cheating could only be accomplished if a tracheotomy kit were, in fact, used. In actual professional practice, however, you would be negligent if you did not use a tracheotomy kit if it were available. Such team-based teaching methodologies are increasingly necessary to provide students with the ability to learn teamwork, review results and attain practical knowledge. These methodologies generally preclude cheating and essentially render the very concept of cheating obsolete, as there are generally no “unauthorized” materials.
Throughout the entire history of our country, the military has been the “testing ground” for all of our major advances in technology and social change. From steam-driven ships to racial integration and equality, the military is usually the first to experiment with, implement and refine new ideas. This is also true of advancements in the medical field. Collaborative teaching is a teaching methodology that has its roots in the military practice of the after action review (AAR). The AAR is “a rank-free, open discussion among all of the members of small units or command groups about a training or combat event.” (Hartle, 2003) This method has been “civilianized” over the years and has finally reached the universities and is incorporated in many disciplines. The introduction of the “theater” operating room is evidence of the adoption of collaborative learning in the profession of medicine.
Another example of military inventions influencing collaborative learning is the introduction of computers and robotics into the medical field. The military was the first organization to develop and implement practical medical modeling and simulation. Representative J. Randy Forbes, R-VA describes medical modeling and simulation in this paragraph:

Medical simulation is the set-up, monitoring and review of a controlled medical event, designed to educate health care providers and broaden their experience with critical situations. Much like a high-tech, fully interactive version of a video game, these realistic clinical scenarios use life-sized computerized patient mannequins that are able to respond in real time to a variety of clinical interventions and pharmacologic agents. The simulations are completely staged and participants are able to make mistakes and learn from them without any risk to patients, and then use what they have learned in real-life situations. (Forbes, 2005).
As one expects, students involved in such a simulation can, in fact, feel emotions akin to the real world situation they are practicing for. Another benefit of simulations is that it is possible to introduce student resourcefulness into a learning situation without having the stigma of possibly cheating. In the future, we may indeed see even more advances in the area of simulation with the refinement of holographic projection and virtual reality we may in fact someday see a complete holographic training environment. This environment would probably allow evaluators to even estimate a students response to critical situations with regard to ethics much more realistically than with anything possible today.
One can easily see that the ethics concerning cheating are beginning to evolve into the collaborative ethics. Instead of frowning on students “helping another to cheat”, you have the environment of team action and evaluation. We’ve seen that the newest and best technology supports the collaborative ethical model rather than an individualized study of the past with its inherent possibility of cheating. Collaborative methods more accurately reflect the real world situation and it is incumbent upon the medical establishment to enhance and foster collaborative ethics. In the real hospital, there is no cheating. There is only teamwork and what works.


References
Forbes, J. R. (2005, September 29). Medical modeling & simulation. Military Medical Technology, 9(6), para. 7. Retrieved September 10, 2006, from Military Medical Technology Web site: http://www.military-medical-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=1166
Hartle, A. E. (Ed.). (2003). Military ethics. In Military Medical Ethics (Vol. 1, p. 179). Washington, D.C.: The Office of the Surgeon General.
Code of Ethics Project Task Force. (2006). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. In View the code online (the code of ethics). Retrieved September 10, 2005, from The American Nurses Association, Inc Web site: http://www.nursingworld.org/ethics/ecode.htm
Student catalog. (2006). Phoenix Student Code (publications). Retrieved September 10, 2006, from University of Phoenix Web site: http://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/courseList.asp

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