Euthanasia in opinions of students of medicine

Euthanasia assumes the deliberate deprivation of life of another human being for the good of that person. At present, euthanasia is legally practiced in Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Columbia and Canada. In Poland, euthanasia is strictly prohibited. The aim of this work is to present the opinions of medical students about euthanasia. An anonymous questionnaire was conducted among first-year students of medicine at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland.

The anonymous questionnaire consisted of 35 questions that concerned three components of euthanasia attitude: knowledge, evaluation, and acceptance of its use. The study included 281 students of medicine (77.6% of all first-year students).

Although euthanasia in Poland is legally prohibited, almost one-fifth of students of medicine expressed a positive attitude towards euthanasia, and over a quarter of students opted for its legalization. Only two independent variables, i.e., family size (number of children) and religious involvement of the respondents, differentiated both the overall assessment of euthanasia and the level of acceptance for its legalization. Non-religious people more often (43.3%) than religiously engaged people (6.4%) expressed positive opinions about euthanasia.

The attitudes of students towards euthanasia are often inconsistent. There is a need to evaluate medical study programmes in the context of creating the right attitudes of future doctors towards euthanasia.