Ethics in practice: Residency training

R. C. is an orthopaedic resident in a teaching program. At the orthopaedic clinic, he examines an elderly, otherwise healthy patient who requires a total hip replacement. He presents the patient to his covering attending physician, who agrees to supervise the joint replacement surgery. The resident discusses the surgery with the patient. The procedure, risks, goals, benefits, and alternatives are presented. The patient agrees to proceed with the surgery. The resident performs the surgical procedure with the attending physician's assistance. The surgery lasts forty minutes longer than the attending physician's usual surgical time, and the blood loss is 300 milliliters greater. Postoperative radiographs demonstrate a well positioned press-fit acetabular component and a cemented femoral component in 6 degrees of varus.