Goals and Strategies for Teaching Death and Dying in Medical Schools

Abstract

Teaching medical students to respond to needs of the dying represents an important challenge for medical educators. This article describes the goals and objectives that should be identified before medical schools can meet this challenge, as well as strategies that, when implemented, will provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to meet the needs of the dying patients. The goals and objectives were identified through a modified group consensus process developed during Choice In Dying's 5-year project "Integrating Education on Care of the Dying into Medical Schools." The authors have diverse experiences and backgrounds and are actively involved in death and dying teaching at 11 medical schools. They conclude that after accepting the goals and objectives, key medical school faculty can work cooperatively to develop strategies to integrate them into the school's curriculum. Without first establishing a set of goals and objectives and developing evaluation methods, medical schools could miss their mark in fostering the student's ability to care for the dying.

Exposure to Death is Associated with Positive Attitudes and Higher Knowledge About End-of-Life Care in Graduating Medical Students

“…3 Objectives for medical student education in end-of-life care have been established and validated, and methods for integrating these objectives into medical school curricula have been developed. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Many schools have published reports of their curricular changes to improve end-of-life care education. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] These changes are well accepted by students, and many have been shown to improve students' confidence, attitudes, and knowledge about end-of-life care.…”

Undergraduate Medical Palliative Care Education: A New Canadian Perspective

“…These interventions may serve not only to improve medical student knowledge of palliative medicine issues and topics, but to establish positive attitudes towards palliative medicine and end-of-life care early in their careers. [4][5][6][7][8] Appendix A. Palliative Care Examination Questions…”

Palliative Care Education Integrated into a Geriatrics Rotation for Resident Physicians

“…Several documents have addressed curriculum requirements in palliative care education and there is general consensus that those topics should be addressed in palliative care educational interventions. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] The specific curricular objectives are outlined in Table 1. The teaching methods included patient care responsibilities, bedside teaching rounds, lectures, and didactic materials.…”

“…14 Several curriculum guides for palliative care physician education have also been published by different organizations focusing on primary care, longterm care, critical care, and medical student education. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Improving end-of-life care education has become a major focus of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA provides health care for patients who are on average a decade older, and more seriously and chronically ill, than the general population.…”