Modern view of medical university students on euthanasia

Objective. To assess the level of knowledge and identify the modern view of medical students on the procedure of euthanasia.

Material and methods. During the study, 100 students of medical university were surveyed. More than half (52 %) of respondents aged 20–21, 36 % were young people aged 22–23, 10 % – students aged 18–19 and the remaining 2 % were respondents aged 24–25.

Results. During the survey of students, it was revealed that despite the fact that half (50 %) of students are adherents of the main world religions (who have a negative attitude towards the euthanasia procedure), only 7 % were against euthanasia because of religious considerations. Only one fifth of the students (23 %) knew about all options for euthanasia. In addition, 18 % of those surveyed did not know about any option for euthanasia. Almost half (47.5 %) of the students answered that everyone should manage life as they want, and the same part (47.5 %) of respondents – that this decision depends on the circumstances. Moreover, almost half (47 %) of the students would agree to euthanasia for relatives in case of a serious illness.

Conclusions. Such a procedure as euthanasia cannot have an unambiguous assessment. Despite the acquired medical knowledge, our students still do not have enough information about the procedure itself to rationally evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages.