Background: Everyday clinical practice requires knowledge of medical ethics and the taking of moral positions. We investigated the ethical knowledge and attitudes of a representative sample of physicians with regard to end-of-life decisions, euthanasia, and the physician-patient relationship.
Methods: 192 physicians (96 women, 96 men; mean age 50) in a random sample of Bavarian physicians completed our structured questionnaire. Data were collected from September to November 2010.
Results: There was much uncertainty among the respondents about the relevant knowledge for end-of-life decisions and the implementation of existing guidelines and laws on euthanasia and advance directives. Attitudes to ethical questions were found to be correlated with the length of time the physicians had been in practice.
Conclusion: Physicians' personal values and moral attitudes play a major role in clinical decision-making. We used a questionnaire to examine physicians' opinions about end-of-life issues and to determine the factors that might influence them. We found their knowledge of medical ethics to be inadequate. Competence in medical ethics needs to be strengthened by more ethical teaching in medical school, specialty training, and continuing medical education.