Educational intervention is effective in improving knowledge and confidence in surgical ethics-a prospective study.

Background: Professionalism and ethics are Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies, but there is little evidence regarding the effectiveness of ethics education.

Methods: General surgery residents at the University of Pittsburgh completed questionnaires measuring attitudes and knowledge about surgical ethics before and after four 60-minute, faculty-facilitated seminars implementing the American College of Surgeons ethics curriculum.

Results: Most residents experienced ethical challenges at least once every rotation: competition of interests (75%), professional obligations (75%), confidentiality (83%), truth telling (88%), surrogate decision making (91%), and end-of-life issues (100%).