A workshop to teach medical students communication skills and clinical knowledge about end-of-life care

Abstract

We describe a half-day workshop to teach third-year medical students three focused end-of-life care skills: breaking bad news, discussing advance directives, and assessing and managing pain. Our workshop included a readers' theater exercise and three role-play exercises. In two of the workshops, faculty members played the role of patients. We used readers' theater to engage the students on an emotional level and set a reflective tone for the workshop. Evaluations reflected that most respondents felt that the workshop enhanced their understanding and ability to address these skills with patients. By 6 months, many students reported applying these skills to patient care in a way they thought was effective.

Palliativmedizinische Lehre

“…Das Lehrangebot in Palliativmedizin an U1 im Rahmen des Querschnittunterrichts ist verpflichtend und besteht für die 3., 5. und 6. klinischen Semester (insgesamt 4 h). Durchgeführt wird es als Block in Kleingruppen (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Optionale Angebote sind eine wöchentliche Begleitvorlesung (8 h) und ein freiwilliges ganztä-giges Seminar (8 h) für das 6. klinische Semester.…”

The “New Revolution” in medical education

“…10 Torke et al engaged students in end-of-life skills training via use of a readers' theater and role-play exercises, and found the reflective tone of the workshop increasing self-reported application of new skills. 11 Each of these studies demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of reflection, role play, and emotional involvement in teaching important clinical skills to medical students in the first and third years of training. By starting early and reinforcing later, such behaviors may be more likely to be incorporated into practice styles.…”

The different levels of learning about dying and death: an evaluation of a personal, professional and interprofessional learning journey

“…Current literature on interprofessional education and learning about dying was used to structure the discussion on the design of the workshop. This included literature on the benefits and challenges of interprofessional education at an undergraduate level in addition to articles on the teaching terminal care (Barnard et al 1999;Small 2001;Dickenson et al 2003;Torke et al 2004;Olthuis & Dekkers 2003;Smith 2002;Winter et al 2003;Fineberg et al 2004;Pollard et al 2004;Oandansan & Reeves 2005a, 2005bHind et al 2003).…”