Evaluation of Medical Students’ Knowledge on Palliative Care: A Single Institution Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background Palliative care is the branch of medicine which has a target of setting focus on the improvement of the quality of life of patients, particularly toward their end of life, such as cases of terminal diseases with low prognosis. Despite growing recognition of the importance of palliative care, a gap remains in medical education. Our study aims to evaluate the current level of knowledge of medical students in regard to palliative care. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, through a period of three months from December 2021 to March 2022. Results A total of 254 students participated in our study. Psychosocial and spiritual needs of the patient alongside definition of palliative care were perceived the most important by the students with a mean score of 3.9 each. Conclusion Our study concludes that there is an overall lack of confidence among medical students in providing palliative care. We recommend further enhancement and implementation of palliative care as part of undergraduate mandatory courses.