Journal of Medical Ethics turns 50: a mixed-methods study about the future of medical ethics

The Journal of Medical Ethics celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025. This milestone created the opportunity for reflection on how the journal and, more broadly, the field of medical ethics has changed and what the future should look like. To do this we explored the views of attendees at the Institute of Medical Ethics (IME) annual conference in 2025 on the future of medical ethics. Our study aims to shed light on: 1) the aspects of today’s ethical landscape in need of greater attention; 2) the contemporary factors that are likely to shape the future of medical ethics; and 3) the role that medical ethics should play in healthcare in the future.
We conducted a mixed-methods study held during the IME Conference 2025. The study consisted of a questionnaire that included both quantitative and qualitative elements, and a small number of participants attended an explorative focus group. A total of N = 53 survey responses were included in the final sample, and N = 9 individuals participated in our focus group.
Our findings highlight the need to account for relationality in medical ethics and identified emerging technologies as a cause of future ethical complexity. Moreover, our findings support the need for a decolonised and more inclusive medical ethics. We also explore what medical ethics education should look like in the future.