Perceptions of a Group of Medical Students Regarding the Issue of Abortion: A Qualitative Analysis.

Abstract

Aim: The medical ethics education given at the faculty of medicine aims to help prospective physicians develop an ethics awareness as part of their professional identity so that they can evaluate the determinants of patient-physician relationship, identify the ethical issues and problems prevailing in medical practice and researches, and find appropriate solutions to the ethical dilemmas faced while protecting ethical values. The objective of this study was to set forth the perceptions of a group of medical students at Hacettepe University regarding the issue of abortion on the basis of the movie If These Walls Could Talk. We aimed to take students’ opinions on abortion, help them ponder on this issue within the context of professional values of physicians, and investigate whether they have gained a critical perspective in terms of feminist bioethics within the framework of the elective courses “Bioethics and Cinema” and “Representation of Physicians in Cinema”, both of which were offered during undergraduate medical education at Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University. Method: The assignments submitted by 178 medical students about the movie “If These Walls Could Talk”, which is used as an educational course material at the Department of Medical History and Ethics, Hacettepe University, were evaluated using thematic analysis method. Before conducting the analyses of the assignments, the necessary permissions for the research were obtained from the Ethics Commission of Hacettepe University on 26.05.2017 with the approval numbered 3861. Findings: The data obtained from student assignments were categorized into main and sub themes. The themes determined upon evaluating the students’ perceptions on abortion were “Human Rights”, “Ethical Justification”, and “The Role of Society”. Conclusion and Suggestions: Our findings have demonstrated that the students have gained awareness on both personal values and professional ethical values. It can be said that the students could discuss abortion – which is an important issue of debate in bioethics – with a feminist bioethics perspective and using their critical thinking skills. Therefore, we suggest that film screenings and follow-up film debates be utilized more often in medical ethics/bioethics education.