Ophthalmic trainees' knowledge in ethics: a wake-up call to ophthalmic practitioners

Studies in recent times have shown that health trainees across the world usually report that they felt not properly positioned to deal with ethical issues or dilemmas they came across during clinical work. Medical code of ethics, etiquette and conduct of professionals are guidelines that have been stipulated to protect the patient. The main aim of this research was to assess the knowledge ophthalmic trainees had in ethics and also assess their observations made while under tutelage. A descriptive study with a cross-sectional design was used in this research. Fifty (50) final year ophthalmic trainees were sampled conveniently from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast and Korle-Bu Ophthalmic Nursing School. Questionnaires were administered to 80 respondents. About 53% of trainees recalled and could recite the principal elements of the ethical codes and 60% reported that the Patients’ Charter was easy to implement. Fifty percent (50%) of the trainees reported that practitioners sometimes informed patients on their conditions with the same percentage reporting that practitioners sometimes involved patients in decision making on their ocular health condition. It is recommended that the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health should be more involved in the training of ophthalmic trainees and must include in their curriculum, a combination of lecture room work, community service and experiential learning. This would position the trainees in terms of confidence and know-how in handling issue regarding ethics.