INTRODUCTION: Several of Brazil's medical schools have established course modules for teaching medical ethics, but the impact of this intervention has yet to be specifically addressed. OBJECTIVE: To measure knowledge on the topic of Medical Ethics acquired by students at the São José do Rio Preto Faculty of Medicine (Famerp). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the graduate class of 2012 answered a questionnaire with twelve self-applicable objective questions with three alternatives (true, false, don't know) based on the Code of Medical Ethics. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and considered significant if P ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Of the 387 students, 251 completed the questionnaire (64.9%). A clear evolution of knowledge was revealed from the first to fourth grade but from the fourth grade onwards, there was stagnation of knowledge. Besides the stagnation observed, there was a low-hit ratio in the sixth grade (56.2%), despite it being the highest grade. CONCLUSION: There is a need for the formal teaching of medical ethics during all of the years of the degree course, since the current model, taught only in the third grade, has proven itself to be ineffective.
Medical Ethics; Medical School; Learning; Medical Education; Teaching; Knowledge
