Assisted Suicide: A Future Task for Physicians? A Survey of 271 German Medical Students.

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> In February 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court revoked a law that had made assisted suicide (AS) a potentially punishable offense. As a result, appropriate legal regulations for AS, including physician-assisted suicide (PAS), must be made. The medical curriculum should be adapted correspondingly. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To explore medical students' knowledge of the legal situation, attitudes toward PAS and wishes regarding PAS education. <b><i>Design:</i></b> A cross-sectional survey was conducted. <b><i>Setting:</i></b> A questionnaire was distributed to all fourth-year students (<i>n</i> = 331) at a German medical school. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Students had a predominantly favorable attitude toward PAS. A majority considered AS to be a task that should be assigned to doctors (71%) and were willing to perform PAS (68%). Education on PAS was explicitly desired. Most participants had only limited knowledge of the legal situation. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Medical students are largely in favor of PAS. A structured and interdisciplinary approach to PAS education is needed.