Confidence of ophthalmology residents in obtaining informed consent

Kian Eftekhari; Gil Binenbaum; Anne K Jensen; Thomasine N Gorry; Prithvi S Sankar; Paul J Tapino

doi:10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.11.005

Confidence of ophthalmology residents in obtaining informed consent

J Cataract Refract Surg. 2015 Jan;41(1):217-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.11.005.

Authors

Kian Eftekhari¹, Gil Binenbaum², Anne K Jensen², Thomasine N Gorry², Prithvi S Sankar², Paul J Tapino²

Affiliations

¹ From the Scheie Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Eftekhari, Binenbaum, Jensen, Gorry, Sankar, Tapino), and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Binenbaum), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Electronic address: kianef@gmail.com.
² From the Scheie Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Eftekhari, Binenbaum, Jensen, Gorry, Sankar, Tapino), and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Binenbaum), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

PMID: 25532645
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.11.005

Abstract

Ophthalmology residents often obtain informed consent for common procedures. In this study, we set out to determine the confidence levels among ophthalmology residents who obtain informed consent. An anonymous online survey was distributed to United States ophthalmology residents across the country. Ninety-five residents participated, evenly distributed geographically and by postgraduate year (PGY). Residents were frequently obtaining consent for procedures despite not being comfortable doing so. Only 18% of residents reported that they always felt comfortable with the informed consent process. Comfort level increased significantly with PGY (P < .001) and prior training in informed consent (P = .032). Of the residents surveyed, 76% indicated a desire for more formal training in the consent process. Most residents would welcome an informed-consent formal training curriculum, which would address 5 of the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies and meet resident milestones in the Next Accreditation System.

Financial disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

MeSH terms

Attitude of Health Personnel*
Consent Forms
Cross-Sectional Studies
Education, Medical, Graduate*
Female
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Informed Consent / psychology*
Internship and Residency*
Male
Ophthalmology / education*
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States