An Overview of Physician Attitudes toward Death and Dying: History, Factors, and Implications for Medical Education

Abstract

In recent years, much attention has been directed toward death-related topics, including the role of the physician in caring for terminally ill patients and communicating with patients and families about death and dying. During the past decade, researchers and critics have often described death in America as being problematic because of tension between heroic and humanistic medical care. This article presents an overview of the attitudes of physicians and medical students regarding end-of-life issues. Included are a discussion of the history of death in Western medicine, information about specific attitudes medical professionals hold regarding terminally ill patients and their families, and research findings about specific factors such as gender, specialty, and years of training and practice that contribute to these attitudes. A need for improved medical education about death and dying is emphasized, with recommendations about how to increase the knowledge of medical professionals and offer patients death with dignity.In the past decade, much attention has been directed toward death-related topics and the treatment of the terminally ill patient. Related literature has surfaced out of urgency "because of the technological capabilities of modern medicine and the moral pluralism characteristic of contemporary American society" (Bodemer 1979, 827). Playing a central role in this phenomenon is the physician, at times ill-equipped for the burden of decision making and responsibility of end-of-life decisions. Herman Feifel hypothesized that physicians enter medicine because of their own above-average fear of death and unresolved conflicts 341

Perception and attitudes of medical students toward communication, chronic disease and death

“…This dynamic situation has changed physicians-patient relationship and requirements, 12 to address these issue's recently, much attention has been directed toward death-related topics, including the role of the physician in caring for terminally ill patients and communicating with patients and their families about death and dying. 13 Physicians, whatever their specialty, frequently may have to bad news to patients and their families, 14 and students need to be trained for this.…”