Knowledge of medical students on organ donation

To analyze the spontaneous knowledge of medical students about organ donation.

518 students of a medical school in Sao Paulo city, from the first-year to internship, answered an objective questionnaire applied through electronic media to assess their spontaneous theoretical knowledge and organ donation awareness.

Organs that can be donated after brain death, such as the cornea, kidneys, heart, liver, and lung were mentioned by the students. Regarding in-life transplantation, they answered it was possible to donate mainly the kidney (91.3%), part of the liver (81.1%), and bone marrow (79.7%). Although it was not expressive, we also noted that their knowledge gradually increased as they reached the end of the course.

Medical students knowledge on organ donation in life and after death was a little superior to 60%. The students had limited exposure to this subject during the course (<40% of them before the internship). The authors suggest that students should be more exposed to the theme of "organ donation" in the medical curriculum.