Abstract

Objective : This study is designed to present the direction and the necessity of education on the biomedical ethics the establish desirable ethical view of paramedic students by understanding on the consciousness of students of department of emergency medical technology on biomedical ethics on euthanasia. Method : Data were collected from on 335 students of department of emergency medical technology in 4-year-college located in districts of Chungcheong-do, from March 4 to April 22, 2010. The questionnaire consisted of total 29 items, i.e., 11 items of general characteristics, 11 items of characteristics related to biomedical ethics and 7 items of consciousness on euthanasia. Result : In general characteristics, the first grade showed the most dense distribution of 37.3%, the second grade was 20.0%, the third grade was 20.9% and the fourth grade was 21.8%. In the consciousness of biomedical ethics on euthanasia, the third and the fourth grades showed a higher ratio(${\chi}^2$ = 136.327, p= .000), in comparison with the first and the second grades, the higher year they were, the higher degree of consciousness they had. The consciousness on each item of euthanasia showed significant differences in grade (F = 8.203, p= .000), experience of clinical practice or none (t = 3.731, p= .000), experience of biomedical ethics education or none (t = 1.997, p = .047) and degree of consciousness on DNR (F = 8.240, p = .000) regarding 'CPR shall not be required in any cases if a patient wants DNR', in experience of biomedical ethics education or none (t = 2.452, p= .015) and degree of consciousness on DNR (F = 2.725, p = .044) regarding if a patient refuses all treatments, the patient's opinion shall be respected', and in degree of consciousness on DNR (F = 2.858, p = . 037) regarding 'after determination of DNR, if the family wants a positive treatment, it shall follow the family's request'. Conclusion : It seemed that the differences in consciousness according to grade and experience of clinical practice were influenced by experiences to treat patients in personally. Moreover, it showed that the higher grade they are, the more experience of education they have, the experiences of education had influences on the consciousness. Development of educational programs is required in order to supply accurate knowledge on biomedical ethics for euthanasia to lower-grade students the to let them establish ethical views properly, and in order to correct wrong knowledge and to establish ethical views while supplying knowledge on biomedical ethics for euthanasia to higher-grade students.

Keywords

• Paramedic Students;
• Biomedical Ethics;
• Euthanasia