摘要：Background
Medical dramas have been popular since their inception, especially among medical students. We hypothesized that the recent increase in the availability of TV medical series through online streaming platforms has probably changed health science students’ viewing habits as well as the representation of bioethical conflicts and health professionals.
Methods
We invited undergraduate students of medicine, nursing, and human biology to complete a self-administered questionnaire about their viewing habits and perceptions of the depictions of bioethical issues and professionalism in TV medical series.
Results
Of the 355 respondents, 98.6 % had watched TV in the last year, 93.5 % watched TV series, and 49.6 % watched medical dramas more than once a week. The most-viewed medical dramas were
The Good Doctor,
House MD, and
Grey’s Anatomy. The most-remembered bioethical topics were medical errors, inappropriate professional behaviors, and death. Most students considered that ideals of professionalism were depicted positively and professionals were portrayed as intelligent, professionally qualified, and competent.
Conclusions
Medical dramas are very popular with health science students and are potentially useful as teaching tools for discussing issues related to bioethics and professionalism.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-021-02947-7.
关键词：Bioethics; Professionalism; Health sciences students; Television; Medical Dramas
