Indonesia Conference Directory

Altruism is the important attribute for medical doctor and other health professional. The behavior of altruism must be understood and trained in the early stage of medical education. The aim of this study is to know perception of medical students on altruism. This study was a qualitative study with involve 24 medical students as informant. Data were collected using in depth interview and focus group discussion. Qualitative data were analyzed using constant comparative method. The results of this study revealed 90 meaning units, 16 themes and five final themes. The final theme consists of: 1) altruism and attribute of medical professionalism, 2) altruism and influential factors, 3) Altruism of medical student, 4) medical profession from a student perspective, and 5) altruism and malpractice. In conclusion, altruism and medical professionalism is important attribute of medical profession. There are many factors that can influence medical students altruism, it can be internal or external factors. Medical students have various level on altruism and we can assess the degree of altruism of medical students through their understanding on medical profession. A low degree of altruism of doctor may cause unexpected things such as malpractice.