ArticleBMC medical education2021
New Zealand medical students' views of euthanasia/assisted dying across different year levels.
Article in BMC medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards end-of-life decisions: a systematic review of influencing factors.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- Knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of euthanasia among medical students and doctors in Pakistan: A cross-sectional study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Life, death, and ethics: medical and dental students' attitudes on assisted dying in Austria.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Exploring the early experiences of assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative study protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Acceptance of euthanasia by students of selected study disciplines at universities in Lublin, Poland.BMC medical ethics · 2024Article
- Psychological Factors Influencing Attitudes towards Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and Palliative Care among Medical Students and Doctors in Training.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Medical students' and residents' views on euthanasia.BMC medical ethics · 2023Article
- Voluntary Assisted Dying/Euthanasia: Will This Have an Impact on Cancer Care in Future Years?Current treatment options in oncology · 2023Review
- What do health care professionals want to know about assisted dying? Setting the research agenda in New Zealand.BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- The Ethics of Dying: Deciphering Pandemic-Resultant Pressures That Influence Elderly Patients' Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Decisions.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies report a majority of the general public support euthanasia/assisted dying (EAD), while a majority of doctors are opposed. In considering policy decisions about EAD, some may discount the views of doctors because they take them to be based on personal values or tradition, rather than reasons that the general public might share. One way to explore this notion is to examine whether medical students' views change during their medical education. The objective of this study was to learn how New Zealand medical students view EAD and whether students at different year levels have different views.
methodsAn on-line survey of undergraduate medical students was conducted asking whether they supported a law change to allow EAD. Quantitative data was analysed using unadjusted and multiple logistic regression. Thematic analysis was conducted with the qualitative data.
resultsA total of 326 students replied to the survey. The overall response rate was 28%. 65% of 2nd year students were supportive of EAD, compared to 39% in 5th year. The odds of 5th year students supporting a law change compared to 2nd year was 0.30 (95% CI: 0.15-0.60). The predominant themes found in the qualitative results indicate that medical students support or oppose EAD for reasons similar to those found in the wider debate, and that their views are influenced by a range of factors. However, several at all year levels cited an aspect of medical school as having influenced their views. This was mentioned by participants who were supportive of, opposed to, or unsure about EAD, but it was the type of influence most often mentioned by those who were opposed.
conclusionsThe quantitative findings show students at the end of 5th year were less likely to support EAD than students at the end of 2nd year. We suggest that this difference is most likely due to their time in medical education. This suggests that the lower support found among doctors is in part related to medical education and medical work rather than age, personality, or social context. The qualitative findings indicate that this is not related to a particular educational experience at Otago Medical School but a range.
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