Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the dental hygiene students and professors’ knowledge and attitudes related to medical ethics and their level of perception of professional ethics education. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study of 330 students and professors in the field of dental hygiene using a structured questionnaire. The sub-factors of knowledge and attitudes related to medical ethics were classified into patient relations, medical and social relations, and individual specialized fields, and analyzed for comparison. Results: In the university curriculum, the professional ethics completion rate was 34.8% for students and 22.1% for professors, but 98.5% of respondents said that professional ethics is important. Their knowledge and attitudes related to medical ethics were average, ranging from 5 points to 3.37 points, followed by “relationships with patients (3.75 points)”, “medical and social relations (3.19 points)”, and “individual specialties (3.16 points).” Conclusions: Students and professors who major in dental hygiene recognize the importance of professional ethics, but the level of knowledge and attitude related to medical ethics has been found to be moderate. Therefore, it is suggested that medical ethics, including professional ethics, should be treated as an essential subject in the university curriculum.
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