Medical Student Secrecy, its Link to the Duty of Confidentiality and the Right to Access and Reuse Health Information

Authors

  • Rui Guimarães MEDCIDS - Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto. Departament of Urology. University Hospital Center of São João. Porto. CISPFEM - Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0524-5501
  • Miguel Guimarães Departament of Urology. University Hospital Center of São João. Porto. President. Portuguese Medical Association. Lisbon.
  • Nuno Sousa President. School of Medicine. University of Minho. Braga. Director. Clinical Academic Center (2CA). Braga.
  • Maria Amélia Ferreira CISPFEM - Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto. Dean. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto. Coordinator. Council of Portuguese Medical Schools. Porto.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.10958

Keywords:

Access to Information/legislation & jurisprudence, Confidentiality, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Electronic Health Records, Medical Records, Portugal, Students

Abstract

The authors address the legal void that exists regarding medical student access to clinical records and health information that local healthcare organizations hold under legal and institutional custody. They develop a legal thesis that configures the creation of medical student professional secrecy and its connection with the duty of confidentiality as assumptions that underlie the medical student’s right to access and reuse health information. Medical students have the legitimacy to access health information and clinical records, as they bear an unequivocal informational, legitimate, constitutionally protected and sufficiently relevant need. They conclude that the legislature must work together with universities and hospital institutions to legally establish the concept of Medical Student Professional Secrecy, its link to the duty of confidentiality and the right of the medical student to access and reuse health information. Furthermore, it must do so in a specific legal act and in the precise terms of the text approved unanimously by the Council of Portuguese Medical Schools, by the National Council of Medical Ethics and Deontology, by the National Council of the Portuguese Medical Association and by its President.

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Author Biography

Rui Guimarães, MEDCIDS - Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto. Departament of Urology. University Hospital Center of São João. Porto. CISPFEM - Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education. Faculty of Medicine. University of Porto. Porto.

Administrador Hospitalar no Centro Hospitalar de São João; Docente voluntario da Faculdade de Medicina do Porto; Investigador do CINTESIS; doutorando em Medicina Legal da FMUP - Faculdadee de Medicina da Universidade do Porto.

Published

2019-02-01

How to Cite

1.
Guimarães R, Guimarães M, Sousa N, Ferreira MA. Medical Student Secrecy, its Link to the Duty of Confidentiality and the Right to Access and Reuse Health Information. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2019 Feb. 1 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];32(1):11-3. Available from: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/10958

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Perspective