A Survey on the Perception of Knowledge on Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy and Conscientious Objection Among La Sapienza University of Rome Medical Students

Abstract

The study explored the perception and actual knowledge on the topic of VTOP (Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy) and CO (conscientious objection) of the students enrolled in a specific Medical Degree course at the Sapienza University of Rome during the six years of study, using a specific 17-item questionnaire and performing inferential statistical analysis on their answers. The study showed that students have moderate knowledge about VTOP and OC and that the gap between knowledge and perception widens over the years to reach its peak during the sixth and final year of study. Consequently, one aspect that should be studied in depth is the role of syllabus structuring during the six years of the course, focusing attention on the biomedical aspect of the practice of VTOP. Furthermore, it is necessary to gain further general knowledge on CO among medical students, which as shown by the analysis of the results is also connected to the poor coverage of this topic during medical studies.