Medical Faculty Students’ Views on Euthanasia: Does It Change With Medical Education?

OBJECTIVE: Euthanasia is the decision to terminate the lives of patients who do not improve with medical treatment at their explicit request. This study was carried out to determine the opinions of medical students regarding euthanasia and to evaluate the effect of medical education on this issue. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among first and sixth-year students of the Gaziantep University School of Medicine during the 2018–2019 academic years. RESULTS: Of the 242 students who participated in the study, 54.1% (131) were first-year and 45.9% (111) were sixth-year students. Overall, 39.7% of the first-year students and 31.5% of the sixth-year students supported active euthanasia. The percentage of students who were against passive euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) was 63.4% and 53.4% for first-year students and 49.5% and 54.1% for sixth-year students, respectively. CONCLUSION: Approximately half of the first and the sixth-year students were opposed to active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and PAS, and there was no significant difference between these two groups of students in their being against euthanasia. However, there were significant differences between these two groups with respect to their reasons against euthanasia.