Informed consent is an important tool in medical practice; for their understanding it is required a formative academic and research process that promotes in health staff the attitudes to do informed consent ethically acceptable, and these need to include the patient perspective. The informed consent requires a proper use and understanding by the patients and the health staff administering it, and is useful ethically and legally, that is the reason why should not be underestimated. It is important that such knowledge of physician and the patient clearly involves recognition about the medical action and its possible consequences and the situations that the patient could be exposed. This article is a review about informed consent, based on its history, evolution and implications for health personnel in general, with the aim of providing guidance and information on their use and development in clinical practice. Bioethics and issues concerning informed consent are areas that need to be disseminate and researched in Latin America to improve the patient protection and good practices of health staff.