Knowledge, awareness, and attitudes about research ethics committees and informed consent among resident doctors

Background: Medical research involving humans is now common all over the world. Medical doctors and residents are increasingly involved in such research. As part of their training requirements, medical residents in many institutions have to be involved, to different degrees, in human research projects. Methods: In this study, knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of resident doctors toward research ethics committees (REC) and informed consent (IC) processes were evaluated. For that purpose, a sample of 209 medical residents of different years from a major teaching hospital was surveyed. Results: Results showed that resident doctors had minimal knowledge of major ethical guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki and Belmont Report. However, more than half of respondents in this study had general knowledge of REC. Additionally, the majority of participants believed that there is a need for REC in each research conducting institution, and that training is also needed for REC members. Moreover, 82.7% of participants thought that investigators should have some training in research ethics. Finally, the current study showed that 60.3%-88.7% of participants were aware of IC requirements in clinical research. Conclusion: Although many residents showed good knowledge and positive attitudes regarding certain aspects related to REC and IC, others need improvement.