Ethics Education in Neonatology: Integrating Theory, Multimodal Methods, and AI Innovation

This review examines current approaches to ethics education in neonatal-perinatal medicine (NPM), integrating adult learning theory, diverse teaching modalities, and emerging technologies to enhance training for neonatal clinicians. Foundational strategies include case-based discussions, simulation, interprofessional learning, and structured debriefing, which promote critical reflection, moral reasoning, and shared decision-making skills. Assessment of ethics education is challenging given the interplay of cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal domains. Tools such as knowledge tests, milestone-based competency frameworks, performance-based assessments, and structured feedback checklists offer complementary methods for evaluating knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Innovations in ethics education increasingly leverage artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI for case creation, conversational agents for virtual role-play, and interactive simulations. These tools can expand access, foster individualized learning, and model complex ethical scenarios, but require safeguards against bias, misinformation, and oversimplification. A structured, theory-informed ethics curriculum, integrated with robust assessment strategies and mindful AI applications, can strengthen ethical competence across the learning continuum and better equip clinicians to navigate moral distress, honor parental values, address equity concerns, and support family-centered decision-making.