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Informed About Informed Consent: A Qualitative Study Of Ethics Education, Rocksheng Zhong, John K. Northrop, Puneet K.C. Sahota, Henry B. Glick, Anthony L. Rostain

Journal of Health Ethics

Informed consent is a foundational concept in modern medicine. Despite physicians’ ethical and legal obligations to obtain informed consent, no standard curriculum exists to teach residents relevant knowledge and skills. This paper presents a qualitative study of residents at one academic medical center. The authors conducted focus groups with trainees in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Ob/Gyn and analyzed their responses using rigorous qualitative methods. Four themes emerged: First, participants agreed that informed consent and decision-making capacity were relevant in many clinical situations. Second, participants varied widely in their understandings of consent. Third, current resident training was …