Objective   To construct a model for the cultivation of medical ethics among public health talents for promoting the efficiency in cultivating medical ethics among talents providing public health services.

  Methods   Main dimensions and factors for medical ethics cultivation were initially screened out through a survey among 110 experts having at least ten years professional experience of public health/medical education/health management using a self-designed questionnaire. Then analytic hierarchy process was adopted to determine the weight of each dimension and factor and to conduct consistency testing.

  Results   The constructed medical ethics cultivation model includes 8 first-level indicators and 27 second-level indicators. The results of consistency test indicated that the constructed model met the requirement of consistency, with the values of 8 for λmax, less than 0.1 for consistency index (CI), and 1.41 for random consistency index (RI), indicating a reasonable matrix constructed. Based on the constructed model, the weight for each of the indicators were calculated and the top three first-level indicators are medical ethical decision-making, medical psychological contract, and medical behavior opportunity, with the weights of 0.2836, 0.2382, and 0.1435, respectively.

  Conclusion   A model for the cultivation of medical ethics among public health talents was established and the constructed model could provide a theoretical support for improving system establishment in the medical ethics cultivation.