Researchers surveyed patients who were scheduled for elective surgery on their opinions regarding trainee participation in surgery. They found that 85 percent of patients consented to having an intern participate in their surgery, and 94 percent consented to a resident participating.
When given specific, realistic scenarios, however, consent dropped from 94 percent to 18.2 percent as the level of resident participation increased. In addition, 83.1 percent of patients were willing to consent to a senior resident’s participation, but only 57.6 percent would consent to a junior resident’s participation and 54.5 percent for an intern’s participation.
Patients reported that they should be informed of resident participation and that this information could change their decision to consent.
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