This was a cross-sectional study with two random samples: 50 second-year and 50 sixth-year undergraduate medical students. An open-ended questionnaire was applied, in addition to a scale known as the "Instrument for evaluating medical students' attitudes towards key aspects of medical practice" (Colares, 2002). The scale contains 52 questions on: 1. Psychological and emotional aspects of physical and mental illness; 2. managing situations related to death; 3. primary healthcare; 4. aspects related to mental illness; 5. the physician's contribution to scientific progress in medicine; and 6. other aspects of medical work and health policies. The attitudes are categorized as positive, negative, or conflictive. According to the findings, students had positive attitudes towards at least three of the six aspects. Second-year and sixth-year students differed significantly (chi² = 6.901, d.f. = 1, p < 0.05) in their attitudes toward factor 2 (managing situations related to death).
Attitudes; Attitude to death; Education Medical; Students Medical; Mental health
