Does Social Media Usage Alter the Perception of Privacy and Confidentiality Norms of Medical Ethics? Impact of Social Media Usage on Medical Students

Abstract

Social media is becoming more determinative in the patient-physician relationship, with legal or social consequences. The aim is to reveal medical students' perceptions of sharing health data and its effect on the patient-physician relationship. Methodology: An online survey of 15 questions evaluating demographic data, attitude toward using social media, perceptions on sharing personal private health data, and influence of social media on the patient-physician relationship was designed. Results: Females (67.05%) were significantly more comfortable with sharing medical information/images on social media than males. While 43.80% of participants considered real-life patient-physician friendship acceptable, 37.59% thought it was acceptable to be virtual friends with their physicians, and only 27.14% would accept friend requests from their patients. Students thought their physician's social media posts would not affect their trust (48.84%) and respect (49.22%) for their physician, and 47.29% thought physician's posts on social media would make them feel closer to her. Finally, 64.34% thought that learning more about patients via social media posts would not impact their attitude toward these patients. Discussion: Evaluating the medical students' perceptions of the issue will shape the structure of their medical education proactively and shed a light to their professional lives mainly with an ethical perspective.