Ethics and professionalism education during neonatal-perinatal fellowship training in the United States
C L Cummings1, G M Geis2, J C Kesselheim3
1Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Objective:
The objectives of this study were to determine the perceived adequacy of ethics and professionalism education for neonatal-perinatal fellows in the United States, and to measure confidence of fellows and recent graduates when navigating ethical issues.
Study Design:
Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Directors, fellows and recent graduates were surveyed regarding the quality and type of such education during training, and perceived confidence of fellows/graduates in confronting ethical dilemmas.
Result:
Forty-six of 97 Directors (47%) and 82 of 444 fellows/graduates (18%) completed the surveys. Over 97% of respondents agreed that ethics training is 'important/very important'. Only 63% of Directors and 37% of fellows/graduates rated ethics education as 'excellent/very good' (P=0.004). While 96% of Directors reported teaching of ethics, only 70% of fellows/graduates reported such teaching (P<0.001). Teaching methods and their perceived effectiveness varied widely.
Conclusion:
Training in ethics and professionalism for fellows is important, yet currently insufficient; a more standardized curriculum may be beneficial to ensure that trainees achieve competency.
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