Abstract

Introduction: Knowledge and attitude of medical students towards organ donation plays a major role in promoting the concept among general population. The study was done with objectives to assess the Medico-legal awareness, knowledge pertaining to organ donation among Undergraduate Medical Students and to determine the willingness and attitude of undergraduate medical students towards organ donation. Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive survey conducted over a period of 3 months under Forensic Medicine department of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok. Results: Students in Clinical years were better aware of the existence of the law on human organ donation in India (92%) as compared among pre-clinical students (71%). Exclusion of sperm and oocyte donation from organ donation was known to 78% of the pre-clinical and 87% of the clinical students. Majority of students (87% clinical) and pre-clinical students (85% pre-clinical) were unaware of possibility of organ donation in infectious and lifestyle diseases. Significantly high level of awareness was seen (96.5%) about kidney donation followed by eye donation (95.5%). Our study revealed that a higher percentage of female participants (96.72%) showed a positive attitude for organ donation. 15.57% of the female participants had donor card as compared to male participants (6.41%). Conclusion: Awareness and attitude of the medical students are important as they play a major role to motivate the society and spread awareness among community.

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