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.
Objective:
To explore medical students' knowledge of the legal situation, attitudes toward PAS and wishes regarding PAS education.
Design:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted.
Setting:
A questionnaire was distributed to all fourth-year students (n = 331) at a German medical school.
Results:
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.
Conclusions:
Medical students are largely in favor of PAS. A structured and interdisciplinary approach to PAS education is needed.
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