ABSTRACT
A survey was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical ethics among surgical residents and interns in three teaching hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. 101 out of 120 completed responses were included in the study. Fifty-one respondents had heard about the Code of Ethics formulated by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. Forty-four had read the code. Seven had no knowledge about it. Forty-seven reported taking consent for procedures. Forty-two respondents gave correct answers on questions of confidentiality and knowledge of law pertaining to trauma victims. Only 11 reported having been taught ethics as students. Four did not feel the need of its teaching at an undergraduate level. Doctors graduating within the last 10 years gave fewer correct answers than those graduating earlier. Knowledge of medical ethics and its application on the surgical floors is extremely poor. The survey results support the view that medical ethics should be part of the undergraduate medical curriculum.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Codes of Ethics , Data Collection , Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Ethics, Medical/education , General Surgery/education , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Hospitals, University , Humans , Pakistan , Surveys and Questionnaires , Social ResponsibilityABSTRACT
Screening for hepatitis in pre-operative assessment of patients is not the usual practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of hepatitis B and C disease in patients coming to hospital for elective surgery. Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration: Study was conducted at Ziauddin Medical University Hospital between January 2001 to December 2002. Patients And All patients admitted electively for surgical procedure were screened for Hepatitis B and C before surgery. Latex method was first applied for immediate results and later reconfirmation by the ELISA technique in seropositive patients. In our study a total of 411 patients were screened for hepatitis. There were 179 males and 232 females. Out of 46 seropositive males, 27 were hepatitis B positive and 19 were hepatitis C positive and out of 28 seropositive females, 9 were hepatitis B and 19 were hepatitis C positive. Frequency of hepatitis B and C is high in elective surgical patients