Introduction: The Ethics Committees (EC) are established to safeguard the safety and rights of the subjects participating in a research study. No formal training about EC is given to the medical students in the undergraduate(UG) and postgraduate(PG) education as a part of curriculum.
Aim and Objectives: To study the awareness about the composition and functioning of EC amongst the faculty members and PG residents.
Methodology: A prevalidated questionnaire was given to the medical teachers and PG residents who consented to participate in the study, fill up the questionnaire immediately and return it. The questions consisted of knowledge about the composition of the EC and its functioning in general.
Results: Total of 149 subjects were enrolled. 64.71% of the faculty and 38.78% of the PG residents were well informed about the composition of the EC. 82 (55.03%) had undergone ICH-GCP training. The overall scores were graded as poor (0 – 3), average (4 – 6), good (7 – 9), and excellent (10- 12). The awareness about EC was significantly higher among faculty than PG residents.
Conclusions: The faculty and PG residents should be trained about ethics and regulations related to clinical research and good clinical practice(GCP) guidelines. Basic knowledge about composition, functioning etc. should be imparted to all faculty and PG residents. It can be initiated by workshop/awareness programmes compulsory for UG and PG students and also for faculty.
Editorial Viewpoint
• Poor awareness about ethics committee functioning is a problem.
• Regular induction courses regarding process of research methodology, ethics and publication should be mandatory across the country.
