Secrecy and cconfidentiality in the doctor-patient relationship: ethical knowledge and opinion of medical students

Given that the medical secrecy is a moral characteristic of medicine and basis of the doctor-patient relationship, and the physician’s ethical thought reflect their academic background, it was necessary to research the ethical knowledge of medical students at the University of Para State. The study is characterized by a questionnaire with situations where the student should judge situations in which confidentiality could be broken. It was also asked whether they had read the Code of Medical Ethics and the Hippocratic Oath. 207 medical students were interviewed, from 1 st to 4 th year of University of the State of Para. It was observed that 25 students showed high-knowledge about medical confidentiality, with 135 as regular-knowledge and 27 showed low-knowledge about the issue. The ethical orientation to medical students becomes extremely important seeking to have graduates capable of practicing and respecting the patient confidentiality.