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To the Editor: In their study of a universal consent for procedures, Ms Davis and colleagues¹ stated that many of the physicians in the ICU were trainees. However, they did not address whether patients were informed about the level of experience of the physicians who might perform the procedures. When obtaining surgical consultation for a patient, most clinicians would naturally choose a surgeon with the most experience in the proposed surgical procedure. Similarly, it has been reported that more experienced surgeons tend to have lower complication rates.^2-3

It is possible that patients or their proxies would be less likely to consent if they were informed that the physician performing the procedure was an inexperienced first-year resident. Complication rates of central venous catheter placement have been shown to be higher with less experienced physicians as operators in general⁴ and with first-year residents in particular.⁵ Although we are not advocating that less . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Hesham A. Hassaballa, MD; Manar K. Alshahrouri, MD; Robert A. Balk, MD
Section of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine
Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center
Chicago, Ill

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