title: Physician assisted suicide: knowledge and views of fifth-year medical students in Germany.
abstract: Suicide and assisted suicide are not criminal acts in Germany. However, attempting suicide may create a legal duty for physicians to try to save a patient's life. This study presents data on medical students' legal knowledge and ethical views regarding physician assisted suicide (PAS). The majority of 85 respondents held PAS to be illegal. More than a third of the students viewed PAS in certain situations to be ethically acceptable whereas a smaller proportion thought that it should be legal. Compared with German physicians the medical students taking part in this study were less opposed to PAS. The majority perceived the undergraduate training concerning ethical aspect of assisted death as deficient.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr-University, Bochum, and Department of Medicine III, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. jan.schildmann@rub.de
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schildmann
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burchardi
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schwantes
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vollmann
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D004501:Education, Medical; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires