Medical faculty students views on euthanasia: does it change with medical education?

Abstract

Objective Euthanasia is the decision to terminate the lives of patients who do not improve with medical treatment at their explicit request. This study was carried out to determine the opinions of medical students regarding euthanasia and to evaluate the effect of medical education on this issue. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among first and sixth-year students of the Gaziantep University School of Medicine during the 2018–2019 academic years. Results Of the 242 students who participated in the study, 54.1% (131) were first-year and 45.9% (111) were sixth-year students. Overall, 39.7% of the first-year students and 31.5% of the sixth-year students supported active euthanasia. The percentage of students who were against passive euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) was 63.4% and 53.4% for first-year students and 49.5% and 54.1% for sixth-year students, respectively. Conclusion Approximately half of the first and the sixth-year students were opposed to active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and PAS, and there was no significant difference between these two groups of students in their being against euthanasia. However, there were significant differences between these two groups with respect to their reasons against euthanasia.

Psychological Factors Influencing Attitudes towards Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and Palliative Care among Medical Students and Doctors in Training

“…Studies conducted to date have highlighted that medical students are more reluctant to euthanise compared to students in other disciplines and the general public [24,[39][40][41]. In the study group, support for euthanasia was found to decrease with increasing years of study [21]. Trends in the opposite direction were observed in students' attitudes towards the current law, with the majority of upper-year students considering it too restrictive.…”

“…There is more support for euthanasia in countries where it is legal, e.g., in Belgium 97.4% [17] and in Canada 88% [18], compared to countries where it is forbidden, e.g., in China 41.2% [15] and Germany 19.2% [16]. Factors that significantly impact negative attitudes toward euthanasia and assisted suicide comprise religion [11,19], a higher year of study [20,21], a lack of law acceptance and a concern for abuse [22]. Factors that significantly impact the support for euthanasia or assisted suicide comprise patient autonomy and the provision of suffering relief [11], and irrelevant variables comprise age and socio-economic status [11,23,24].…”