Knowledge of Law Students on the Problems of Modern Transplantology Is Good but It Can Always Be Better.

The progress of transplantation in Poland is influenced not only by medical staff, but also by the legislative organ, which approves amendments to the Act of the Collection, Storage and Transplantation of Cells, Tissues and Organs. This is why young lawyers should be aware of the scale of the problem and have current statistics on transplant issues. AIM: To assess the awareness of existing problems in the field of transplantation in Poland among law students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey (with 11 questions) of 209 law students at the University of Bialystok (64% women and 36% men). RESULTS: Of respondents, 32% do not see the difference between dialysis treatment and transplantation, and 47% are convinced that the 5-year survival of dialysis patients is as much as 70% (in fact this number is twice as low). Still, 13% of people consider the stereotype of family consent for organ procurement is necessary. Of law students, 5% indicated that organ trafficking is allowed in Poland, and 41% believe that as many as 5% of people in Poland stated in writing opposition to removal of their organs after death. Fortunately, this number is much smaller (2%). The respondents have current knowledge about the place of Poland in the world in terms of the number of donors. Relatively good results were recorded in questions about medical knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: In most questions, the correct answer obtained the highest score, but it was not an absolute majority. There is a trend among law students for an optimistic approach to statistics and the real problems in transplantology.

Organ Procurement in Poland: Legal and Medical Aspects.

Transplantology is one of the fastest growing specialties of medicine. However, data on actual students' knowledge in this field is lacking. AIM: Assessing the education of medical students; level of current basic knowledge in the field of medicine, law, and statistics on transplantology in Poland. METHODS: Survey (with 48 questions) conducted among 165 medical students (1st-6th year). The average age was 22 years; 62.0% women. RESULTS: Only 29.7% of the respondents are blood donors, 36.4% are registered as a potential bone marrow donor, and 11.8% have the donor card. None of these factors had a clear impact on transplantology knowledge. The respondents obtained a result of 54.9% correct answers (medicine, 58.2%; law, 55.8%; statistic, 39.9%). An increase in the level of knowledge in subsequent years of education can be seen. Students in the first year marked 49.4% correct answers compared to people in the sixth year who marked 62.9% correct. Students base their knowledge about transplantation mainly on messages obtained in class (89.1%). The survey showed that 18.8% of respondents consider the family's consent for organ procurement from their deceased member as legally valid; 27.9% do not treat brain death as synonymous with death; and 9.1% believed that organ trafficking is allowed. Nobody is registered in the Central Register of Objections. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increase in the level of knowledge about transplantation during the study, it does not reach a satisfactory level. The number of sources of knowledge does not correlate with the quality of acquired knowledge.