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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2023; 15(02): e237-e242
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1774394
Research Article

Perspectives of Resident and Attending Ophthalmologists on Common Ethical Dilemmas in Research

Sarah C. Miller    *
1   Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Brittany C. Tsou   *   +
1   Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Michael J. Fliotsos
2   Department of Ophthalmology, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut
,
Gary L. Legault
3   Department of Ophthalmology, San Antonio Military Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas
4   Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
,
Jiangxia Wang
1   Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
5   Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Todd J. Mondzelewski
6   Department of Ophthalmology, Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego, California
,
Patrick D. Munson
7   Department of Ophthalmology, Madigan Army Medical Center, Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
,
Alice Lorch
8   Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
,
Laura K. Green
9   Department of Ophthalmology, Krieger Eye Institute, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Won I. Kim
10   Department of Ophthalmology, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
,
Ron W. Pelton
11   Oculo-Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Colorado Springs, Colorado
,
Fasika A. Woreta
1   Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Grant A. Justin
10   Department of Ophthalmology, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
12   Department of Vitreoretinal Surgery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
› Author Affiliations Funding/Support This work was supported by the National Eye Institute (P30EY001765, Wilmer Biostats Core, to J.W.). The sponsor or funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research.
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Abstract

Purpose To assess how resident and attending ophthalmologists perceive and evaluate ethically controversial scenarios regarding mentorship, authorship, and ethics compliance that may occur during research involving residents.

Methods An online survey was developed and contained 14 controversial vignettes based on common research scenarios that can occur when conducting research with trainees. The scenarios were designed to capture issues regarding three themes: mentorship, authorship, and compliance with ethical guidelines. Resident and attending ophthalmologists at eight military and civilian academic residency programs in the United States were invited to participate. Respondents used a Likert scale to assess the ethicality of the situations in addition to self-reported demographic characteristics.

Results The response rate was 35.6% (77/216), consisting of 37.7% (n = 29) residents and 62.3% (n = 48) attendings. More attending ophthalmologists responded than residents (p = 0.004). Many respondents identified controversies around compliance (67.3%) and authorship (57.1%) as unethical, whereas situations regarding mentorship were largely viewed as neutral to ethical (68.0%). Responses to two scenarios, one regarding mentorship and one regarding authorship, significantly differed between residents and attendings (p = 0.001 and p = 0.022, respectively).

Conclusion Academic ophthalmologists' perceptions of the ethicality of common research scenarios varied. There is a need for more prescriptive guidelines for authorship and mentorship ethics at all training levels to ensure consistency, fairness, and integrity of research.

Keywords

ophthalmology - academic ophthalmology - research - ethics - residency - ophthalmology residency - authorship

Financial Disclosures

R.W.P. is on the Board of Trustees at the AAO and Colorado Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons and served as a consultant for Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company. A.L. is a consultant for Regeneron. Otherwise, all authors have no conflicts to disclose. The preliminary analyses of these data were presented at the Annual American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting in 2021.


* These authors contributed equally as co-first authors.


+ Dr. Tsou is currently in residency at Albany Medical College.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 08 November 2022

Accepted: 10 August 2023

Article published online:
07 November 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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