Parent attitudes toward resident involvement in their child's strabismus surgery

Purpose: To explore patterns in parents' understanding and preferences related to ophthalmology resident participation in their child's strabismus surgery. Methods: Over a 4-week period, a survey was distributed at a suburban, academic eye center to English-speaking parents of children with strabismus who have not previously undergone, or were not being scheduled for, strabismus surgery. Results: All of the 64 eligible parents participated in the survey. For a resident to assist or perform the surgery, 80% and 97% of parents, respectively, indicated it was important or extremely important to be asked permission beforehand; 69% indicated the attending surgeon should ask permission for the resident to perform the surgery, whereas only 11% believed a standard written consent was sufficient. Of the 64 respondents, 77% indicated that they would agree to a resident assisting with their child's operation; 36% would agree to a resident performing the surgery. Conclusions: Nearly all parents in our study indicated that they would want to be informed of resident involvement by the attending surgeon. The vast majority would consent to having an ophthalmology resident assist in their child's strabismus surgery, and more than one-third would consent to having the resident perform their child's strabismus surgery. Obtaining informed consent prior to resident involvement increases transparency and highlights the importance of ophthalmology residency education.