Knowledge and attitudes of medical students on decriminalized induced abortion

Objective To explore if the academic exposure to legal abortion affects the knowledge and attitudes of medical students. Method To asses this relationship, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were performed. We analyzed a medical student cohort enrolled in gynecology and obstetrics at two a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista de salud pública (Bogotá, Colombia) Colombia), 2015-12, Vol.17 (6), p.912-924
Main Authors: Quintero-Roa, Eliana M, Ochoa-Vera, Miguel E
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Abortion, Legal - education
Abortion, Legal - legislation & jurisprudence
Abortion, Legal - psychology
Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Clinical Competence
Colombia
Education, Medical, Undergraduate
Female
Humans
Male
Qualitative Research
Students, Medical - psychology
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective To explore if the academic exposure to legal abortion affects the knowledge and attitudes of medical students. Method To asses this relationship, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were performed. We analyzed a medical student cohort enrolled in gynecology and obstetrics at two accredited universities in Bucaramanga, Colombia during the second half of 2011. Students were invited to participate in two anonymous surveys. One survey was conducted in the first three weeks of the semester, and the second was done in the last three weeks. A quantitative approach was taken by a group interview of two random groups of participants. One group was composed of medical students of gynecology and obstetrics (fourth year of medicine), and the other group was composed of medical students in their last year (internal medical students). Results The items pregnancy with risk to the mother´s life, or affected by a non-viable fetal malformation, or result of rape were recognized and accepted. 46% of the participants changed their attitude about legal abortion at the end of the semester. Three out of every four participants changed their attitude to accept the decriminalized conditions, while one out of every four people had the opposite change of opinion. Medical student´s don´t believe that general practitioners are trained to advice patients in these cases. Conclusions Educating and training general practitioners in issues related to legal abortion may decrease the risk of inadequate medical assessment in cases of legal abortion.
ISSN:0124-0064
DOI:10.15446/rsap.v17n6.39786