title: Ethics and professionalism education during neonatal-perinatal fellowship training in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of this study were to determine the perceived adequacy of ethics and professionalism education for neonatal-perinatal fellows in the United States, and to measure confidence of fellows and recent graduates when navigating ethical issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Directors, fellows and recent graduates were surveyed regarding the quality and type of such education during training, and perceived confidence of fellows/graduates in confronting ethical dilemmas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-six of 97 Directors (47%) and 82 of 444 fellows/graduates (18%) completed the surveys. Over 97% of respondents agreed that ethics training is 'important/very important'. Only 63% of Directors and 37% of fellows/graduates rated ethics education as 'excellent/very good' (P=0.004). While 96% of Directors reported teaching of ethics, only 70% of fellows/graduates reported such teaching (P<0.001). Teaching methods and their perceived effectiveness varied widely.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Training in ethics and professionalism for fellows is important, yet currently insufficient; a more standardized curriculum may be beneficial to ensure that trainees achieve competency.
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Geis
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kesselheim
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sayeed
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education* / Q000941:ethics*; D000068616:Professionalism / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States