title: Causes of resident lapses in professional conduct during the training: A qualitative study on the perspectives of residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The residency is a critical period for doctors to establish their professional identity and ethical standards, and yet during this time, residents are susceptible to engage in a diverse range of unprofessional behaviors. To prevent the misconduct of residents, it is critical to have a thorough understanding of the contributing factors or circumstances.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a qualitative study on 20 residents at one Korean university-affiliated tertiary hospital. During in-depth interviews, residents were asked to reveal their experiences or observations of misconduct, and describe their perceptions on the attributes of professional lapses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diverse unethical and unprofessional behaviors were extracted from the transcripts and reported in a previous paper. In the current paper, the attributes that residents regarded as the causes of their unprofessional behaviors were identified within four categories: (1) inadequate systems within training hospitals; (2) lack of professionalism education; (3) strong hierarchical structure; and (4) poor character of individuals. The residents tended to perceive their misconduct as situation-sensitive, and emphasized the importance of systematic and cultural changes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To enhance medical professionalism among residents, the results of this study suggest the need of systematic and structured training programs, adequate professionalism education with clear codes of conduct, and active monitoring and feedback systems.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Humanities , Korea University College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung-Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Humanities , Korea University College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Mee
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Humanities , Korea University College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Humanities , Korea University College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D028743:Professional Misconduct; D036301:Qualitative Research; D056910:Republic of Korea