Abstract
Background: In February 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court revoked a law that had made assisted suicide (AS) a potentially punishable offense. As a result, appropriate legal regulations for AS, including physician-assisted suicide (PAS), must be made. The medical curriculum should be adapted correspondingly. Objective: To explore medical students' knowledge of the legal situation, attitudes toward PAS and wishes regarding PAS education. Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Setting: A questionnaire was distributed to all fourth-year students (n = 331) at a German medical school. Results: Students had a predominantly favorable attitude toward PAS. A majority considered AS to be a task that should be assigned to doctors (71%) and were willing to perform PAS (68%). Education on PAS was explicitly desired. Most participants had only limited knowledge of the legal situation. Conclusions: Medical students are largely in favor of PAS. A structured and interdisciplinary approach to PAS education is needed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1051-1055 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Palliative Medicine |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- assisted dying
- medical aid in dying
- medical education
- medical students
- physician-assisted suicide
