The Role of Undegraduate Medical Students Training in Respect for Patient Confidentiality

Abstract

Background: Encouraging professional integrity is vital in providing a standard of excellence in the quality of medical care and education, promoting a culture of respect and responsibility. The main objective of this work consisted of studying the relationship of medical students with the right to intimacy of patients in Spain, specifically analysing the conditions of accessing patients’ Clinical History (CH).Methods: A questionnaire was sent by e-mail to final-year students at 41 Spanish universities. It had 14 multiple choice and closed questions framed in 3 large blocks. The first one addressed basic general knowledge issues on the right to intimacy and the obligation of confidentiality. The two remaining blocks were made up of questions directed towards evaluating the frequency with which certain requirements and steps of action related to the students in attending the patient were performed, and regarding the guarantees in accessing and handling their CH both on paper and in the Electronic Medical Record.Results: A total of 245 valid replies was considered. 67.8% of participants were women, with an average age of 24.05±3.49 years. Up to 90.6% were aware that confidentiality affected the data in CHs, although 43.3% possessed non-anonymized photocopies of patients’ clinical reports outside healthcare context, and only 49.8% of the students were always adequately identified. 59.2% accessed patients’ CHs on some occasions by using passwords of healthcare professionals and 77.2% of them did not have patients’ express consent and 71.9% accessed a CH that was not anonymised.Conclusions: The role of healthcare institutions and universities is considered to be fundamental in implementing educational measures regarding the risks and ethical and legal problems arising from the use of CHs among professionals and students. A profound study of medical ethics is needed through the analysis of clinical cases, and direct exposure to situations in which the patient’s confidentiality is questioned.