Medical students' attitudes towards ageing and death: a cross-sequential study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Medical Education
• Psychology

Background:

• Attitudes towards aging and death anxiety are crucial for healthcare professionals.
• Undergraduate medical education may influence these attitudes.
• Previous research on attitude changes during medical school is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze changes in medical students' attitudes towards older persons.
• To assess changes in medical students' personal death anxiety.
• To compare medical students' attitudes with general population data.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of three entering classes of medical students.
• Administration of the Attitudes Toward Old People Scale and Death Anxiety Scale.
• Comparison with baseline data from graduate students and the general population.

Main Results:

• No significant changes in attitudes towards the aged or death anxiety were observed during medical school.
• Medical undergraduates exhibited more positive attitudes towards the aged than graduate students.
• Medical undergraduates reported significantly lower death anxiety than the general population.

Conclusions:

• Undergraduate medical education does not appear to significantly alter attitudes towards the aged or death anxiety.
• Medical students may possess inherently more positive attitudes towards the aged and lower death anxiety.
• Further research is needed to explore the factors influencing these attitudes.