Unethical and unprofessional conduct observed by residents during their first year of training

The authors surveyed over 550 first-year residents on their personal observations of unethical and unprofessional conduct in medicine during their first year of training. Of the group around seventy-four percent reported seeing mistreatment of patients, seventy-three percent reported seeing a colleague working in a impaired condition, and one fourth reported that they were required to do something during the year that they believed was immoral, unethical, or personally unacceptable. The researchers concluded that the findings confirm similar reports among medical students and residents and raise questions about the possible effect of such observations on the ethical principles and behavior of physicians-in-training.