Knowledge and attitude regarding Euthanasia among medical students in the public and private medical schools of Karachi

Objective: to assess the awareness about and perception of euthanasia among medical students of karachi. method: the cross-sectional study was conducted from december 2011 to march 2012 among students of private- sector and one public-sector medical college in karachi. data was analysed using spss version 17, and associations were worked out using chi-square test. results: out of the 493 students, 226 (46%) were from the matriculation system and 194 (39%) from the cambridge system, while the remaining 15% were from the american high school. the male-female ratio was 1:3. there were 284 (58%) students from the private medical college. majority of the private medical school students (n=284; 99.6%) knew about euthanasia, compared to the public-sector facility where only 161 (77%) knew of it. of the total, 405 (82%) students agreed that it is physician-assisted suicide; 255 (52%) agreed to the idea of palliative care, claiming it was sufficient to maintain life; 226 (54%) disagreed that a doctor should not be allowed to administer a lethal dose while only 162 (33%) agreed to the idea of it; 285 (58%) disagreed that a law regarding the practice of euthanasia should not be introduced, whereas 134 (27%) agreed to it; 70 (14%) agreed to the practice of euthanasia, while 311 (63%) disagreed, mostly for religious reasons. conclusion: the awareness of euthanasia was high, but a very small proportion of students approved of it. there is need to include palliative care and euthanasia in the behavioural science module in the under-graduation programme of both public and private medical schools.