Ethics training in dermatology residency programs: A survey of dermatology residency program directors and assistant/associate program directors

Professionalism, defined as a demonstrated adherence to professional and ethical principles, is one of the six core competencies of dermatology graduate medical education. We sought to assess the current educational landscape for ethics training in dermatology residency programs by surveying dermatology residency program directors and assistant/associate program directors. A sixteen-question survey was designed and distributed to dermatology program directors and assistant/associate program directors via an email list. The estimated response rate was 43.17%. Most (54.55%) dermatology resi-dency programs did not have an ethics curriculum. Among programs with an ethics curriculum, about three-fourths were implemented in the past ten years. The most common settings for teaching ethics were formal didactics (31.91%) and ad hoc during clinical encounters and other clinical settings (27.66%). Cited barriers to implementing and/or maintaining an ethics curriculum were lack of time (30.10%), lack of faculty with expertise in ethics (24.27%), and lack of useful resources (20.39%). Despite requirements for ethics training, most dermatology residency programs did not report having an ethics curriculum. This study's results highlight the need for an increased emphasis on ethics training in US dermatology residency programs.& COPY; 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study surveyed dermatology residency program directors and assistant/associate program directors to assess the current landscape of ethics training in US dermatology residency programs. The results showed that most programs did not have a dedicated ethics curriculum, and among those that did, the majority implemented it within the last ten years. Formal didactics and ad hoc teaching during clinical encounters were the most common settings for ethics education. Lack of time, lack of faculty expertise, and lack of useful resources were identified as barriers to implementing and maintaining an ethics curriculum. These findings highlight the need for increased emphasis on ethics training in US dermatology residency programs.