Knowledge on Ethical Codes among Undergraduate Medical Students and Faculty Members

Background: Present study is designed to assess the knowledge of ethical codes among para-clinical and clinical students of medicine and faculty members.

Methodology:

Study Setting: KMC, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.

Study Design: A cross sectional self-administered questionnaire based study.

Study Group: II, III, IV MBBS students and faculty members.

Using self-administered 5 item structured questionnaires on knowledge on ethical codes, a cross-sectional survey of second, third and fourth year (para-clinical and clinical) medical students and faculty of Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore were conducted in August 2018.

Results: Present study showed overview of knowledge of ethical codes among faculty members and students in the medical college. Among the study population, knowledge on informed consent was well understood by 62% of respondents. Again 34% of the population was not aware of the contents of Hippocratic Oath, However 32% of the population knew the contents of Hippocratic Oath. More than 50% of study population including students and faculty members were not aware of contents of Nuremberg oath, Helsinki oath and Belmont reports. Studies of the present study showed that faculty members and students had a sound knowledge on informed consent in ICMR guidelines and it was well understood by study population. Knowledge on other ethical codes were poor, like Nuremberg code, Helsinki declaration were not familiar with respondents. Majority of participants agreed that they are not aware of Nuremberg oath (64%), whereas equal proportion (18%) agreed and disagreed with the Nuremberg code even though the Nuremberg oath was not given appropriately.

Conclusion: Present study findings demands the prioritization for incorporation of knowledge on ethical codes into curriculum and training programme for faculty members.