Medical students' and residents' views on euthanasia

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Bioethics
• End-of-Life Care

Background:

• Medical professionals increasingly confront end-of-life decisions.
• Understanding medical students' perspectives on euthanasia is limited.
• This study investigates views on euthanasia among Brazilian medical trainees.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medical students' and residents' views on euthanasia and its variants.
• To correlate these views with empathy, religiosity, and training stage.
• To analyze attitudes towards end-of-life care options in medical education.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory, cross-sectional study utilizing an online questionnaire.
• Participants included medical students and residents in Brazil.
• Data collected on demographics, empathy, and clinical scenarios involving euthanasia variants.

Main Results:

• High agreement on passive euthanasia (72.9%) and orthothanasia (90.1%).
• Lower agreement on active euthanasia (22.3%), assisted suicide (33%), and dysthanasia (18.7%).
• Refusal of passive euthanasia, active euthanasia, assisted suicide, and dysthanasia increased with training duration; empathy and religiosity showed no significant impact.

Conclusions:

• Medical trainees' attitudes towards euthanasia and related concepts evolve during training.
• Empathy and religiosity did not significantly influence opinions on end-of-life care options.
• Findings highlight the need to consider diverse legal and cultural contexts in end-of-life care discussions.