Residents and attending physicians have an ethical responsibility to speak up if there is a concern that a colleague lacks clinical skills and is providing inadequate patient care.
Research ethics should be included in the medical school curriculum so students and residents can fully understand the ethical implications of medical research.
When medical students are involved in patient care as part of their education and training, patients must be informed of their status and provide written or oral consent to be treated.
Readers are referred to an article in a 1999 issue of JAMA to discuss whether medical professionalism should be explicitly taught in medical schools and residency programs.