Our study strongly supports that 100% adherence to evidence supported quality-of-care indicators is associated with better survival rates for breast cancer patients and should be a priority for practitioners.

Background To describe the types of research being conducted and the availability of research ethics training and research ethics review in Thailand and Vietnam. Methods An English survey with four major domains, Research Area, Societal Conditions, Research Ethics, and Basic Information was translated into Thai and Vietnamese by native training partners from the NIH Fogarty Research Ethics Training Program. Setting/Participants The survey was administered in two modes - an online survey distributed via an email link in Thailand, and an onsite paper survey in Vietnam. Participants were Thai and Vietnamese trainees and investigators from prestigious universities. Results In Thailand, there were 363 respondents (9.3% online response rate); in Vietnam there were 117 survey participants. Among those who conduct research, 81% in Thailand and 92% percent in Vietnam reported that their research involves human subjects. Among human subject researchers, 83% in Thailand reported having ethics training, and among these, only 44% reported having formal training. In Vietnam, 66% reported having research ethics training; among them, 72% had formal training. Human subject research reported include clinical observations (26% from Thailand and 26% from Vietnam) and clinical interventions (29% from Thailand and 26% from Vietnam). Significant proportion of respondents reported that their institutions have guidelines (97% in Thailand; 89% from Vietnam) and have established Institutional Review Boards (92% in Thailand; 77% in Vietnam). 76% and 79% of respondents in Thailand and Vietnam respectively reported no experience in teaching research ethics. Lack of trained research ethics teachers (38% in Thailand and 59% in Vietnam), training materials (34% in Thailand; 43% in Vietnam), and an adequate curricular “delivery platform” (58% in Thailand; 49% in Vietnam) are most pressing issues. Conclusions We identified gaps in research ethics training in these two South East Asian countries undergoing rapid socioeconomic transition and identified future curricular focus opportunities.