[Knowledge of health care ethics in paediatric residents]

Bioethics has been recently incorporated in to the educational programs of both medical students and medical residents as part of their curriculum. However, its training based on clinical practice is not well structured.

To evaluate the knowledge of bioethics in Spanish paediatric residents, and to analyse how this relates to the medical education during graduate and post-graduate training.

A questionnaire with 20 multiple choice questions was designed to evaluate the knowledge in basic ethics with potential implications in clinical practice. We evaluated the education received during graduate and post-graduate training, and the main ethical conflicts faced.

A total of 210 completed questionnaires were received from medical residents in paediatrics from 20 different Spanish hospitals, of whom 47 of these were first year residents (R1), 49 were second year residents (R2), 57 were third year residents (R3), and the remaining 57 were final year residents (R4). The mean number of correct answers was 16.8 out of 20. No differences were found between residents in different years of training, nor were there any differences between the group that had received specific training in bioethics versus those who had not. Residents were more likely to give wrong answers related with informed consent, the law on the freedom of the patient, principles of quality of life, the case analysis system, and the dimension of distributive justice.

Limitation of therapeutic efforts was identified as the main ethical problem faced in clinical practice by Spanish residents in paediatrics. Most of the knowledge of bioethics is acquired during graduate training, and improved very little throughout the period of medical residence. Our results suggest that efforts are required in organising and structuring the education in bioethics during the training of residents in paediatrics.