Introduction

Medical undergraduates start college as idealists, but many are considered to leave indifferent: this is the biggest challenge in medical education. Studies have indicated a regression in moral competence throughout the undergraduate course. Another matter of growing interest in the academic sphere is spirituality.

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between moral competence and spirituality among medical students.

Methods

Descriptive cross-section study of 121 students. Data were collected using Limesurvey software, with the Informed Consent Form and three questionnaires: sociodemographic, George Lind’s moral competence test, calculated in Excel, and Pinto e Pais-Ribeiro’s spirituality scale. Stata 12.0 was used for the analysis.

Results

Having a religion is associated to a higher degree of spirituality. As regards gender and doctor parents, there was an associative trend with heightened spirituality. The C score continued to increase throughout the course. In terms of the relationship between spirituality and moral competence, relatively unspiritual students presented a higher C score.

Conclusion

Highly spiritual students showed a tendency toward a lower moral competence. The spirituality questionnaire, however, is pervaded by religious dimensions, which tend to limit the development of moral competence in the studied population.

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