title: Recognizing conflict of interest in orthopaedic surgery: a survey across medical education levels.
abstract: The relationship between pharmaceutical and biomedical technology companies (industry) and medical practitioners has been a topic of discussion and concern for several decades. The large monetary payments and extravagant gifts to physicians from these companies have been regulated and largely stopped; however, there still exists an active rapport between physicians and industry. Little formal instruction is given to medical students and residents on what constitutes a conflict of interest when entering these business partnerships. In this study, we presented a set of scenarios depicting industry-physician interactions to medical students, orthopaedic surgery residents, and attending physicians and asked them to decide whether a conflict of interest is depicted. Our goal was to determine whether a disparity exists in the ability to identify conflicts of interest across the levels of training. Of 200 potential participants, 70 provided responses to the survey (35%). Thirty-five (50%) were attending physicians, 18 (25.7%) residents, 12 (17.1%) medical students, and 8 (11.4%) declined to provide level of training. There was no significant difference in the ability to identify a conflict of interest across seniority level for the 13 questions. Our results suggest that both medical students and resident physicians are able to identify which interactions with industry pose a possible conflict of interest as accurately as attending physicians can.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Montero-Lopez
authors.forename: Mani
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Shikka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niggam
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Egol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000941:ethics; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000193:education / Q000941:ethics*; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics*; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult