What would you do if you witnessed a fellow resident acting unethically?

"If I see a fellow resident act unethically, I will refer to how I was trained to report ethical issues. First, I would ensure that I could identify the breach of ethics and determine the severity of the nature of the breach. If I witnessed a serious breach, I would identify the proper supervisor or faculty member who should be made aware of the breach and bring it to them as soon as possible. I have a clear set of moral values and will not turn a blind eye to any breach of ethics in the clinic or hospital from any staff member."

If you were trained in medical school on taking a specific course of action, now is the time to mention that. If not, you should create your own standard for ethics issues. Be sure to ask the interview panel if they have a system for reporting ethics issues at their institution. This will show that you have aninterest in being matched to their program.

If I witnessed a fellow resident acting unethically, I would first ascertain the facts of the situation. If there was actually an ethical issue, I would act in accordance with the hospital's code of ethics, and report the issue to the correct staff member.

"If I witnessed another resident acting unethically I would try to talk to them about it. Oftentimes communicating with someone directly and asking why they are doing something a certain way is an important step in understanding what is actually happening. If they are truly acting unethically, I would then bring it to the attention of my senior resident."

"A colleague acting unethically while on service simply cannot be tolerated. I would first gather the facts of the matter and approach the resident regarding the case, especially if patient care was at stake. Next, it is necessary to report the behavior to our supervisor."

"This would be a challenging situation for anyone. I would first approach my fellow resident, let them know what I had witnessed, and provide them the opportunity to inform residency leadership themselves to make amends. If my fellow resident refused to do so, I would let them know that, since I witnessed something unethical, it would be my duty to inform leadership, and I would let my program leadership know about what I had witnessed."

"As physicians, we are held to an extremely high ethical standard and I believe it is our responsibility to address issues of unethical behavior within our profession. If I saw a fellow resident acting unethically, I would first confront that person directly and ask if they understood why what they were doing was unethical in order to give that person an opportunity to reflect and learn from the situation. However, I would have no hesitation in reporting any unethical conduct to a higher authority within the physician ranks to address any unethical behavior."