Examining Health Care Students' Attitudes toward E-Professionalism

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Digital Health Ethics
• Professionalism in Healthcare

Background:

• E-professionalism is crucial for healthcare students and professionals.
• Understanding student perceptions of online professional conduct is essential for curriculum development.
• Variations in e-professionalism views may exist across different health disciplines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, and physician assistant (PA) students' perceptions of e-professionalism.
• To identify specific areas of agreement and disagreement regarding electronic professional behavior among these diverse student groups.
• To inform educational strategies for promoting consistent e-professional standards.

Main Methods:

• A 20-item questionnaire with 16 electronic scenarios was administered to first-year students.
• Four distinct healthcare professional cohorts participated: pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, and PA students.
• Student agreement with scenarios representing professional electronic behavior was measured.

Main Results:

• A high response rate of 94% was achieved.
• Statistical differences in e-professionalism perceptions were found in 5 out of 16 scenarios.
• Osteopathic medicine students' perceptions differed most frequently compared to other cohorts.

Conclusions:

• Overall, healthcare profession students demonstrated similar views on e-professionalism.
• Osteopathic medicine students exhibited a less conservative approach to e-professionalism compared to pharmacy, dental, and PA students.
• Findings suggest a need for targeted discussions on digital ethics in medical education.