Virtue ethics and rural professional healthcare roles

Abstract

Because rural populations are at risk not only for clinically disparate care but also ethically disparate care, there is a need to enhance scholarship, research, and teaching about rural health care ethics. In this paper an argument for the applicability of a virtue ethics framework for professionals in rural healthcare is outlined. The argument serves as an illustration for how philosophical analysis of the ethical dimensions of rural healthcare can contribute practical solutions to rural health problems. An interprofessional multidisciplinary understanding of rural healthcare ethics must go beyond the distinct professional role morality that already develops within different professions. S..