Using Structured Clinical Instruction Modules (SCIM) in Teaching Palliative Care to Undergraduate Medical Students

The purpose of this longitudinal study of US medical schools over a 40-year period was to ascertain their offerings on end-of-life (EOL) issues. At 5-year intervals, beginning in 1975, US medical schools were surveyed via a questionnaire to determine their EOL offerings. Data were reported with frequency distributions. The Institute of Medicine has encouraged more emphasis on EOL issues over the past 2 decades. Findings revealed that undergraduate medical students in the United States are now exposed to death and dying, palliative care, and geriatric medicine. The inclusion of EOL topics has definitely expanded over the 40-year period as findings reveal that US undergraduate medical students are currently exposed in over 90% of programs to death and dying, palliative care, and geriatric medicine, with the emphasis on these topics varying with the medical programs. Such inclusion should produce future favorable outcomes for undergraduate medical students, patients, and their families.

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How effective is undergraduate palliative care teaching for medical students? A systematic literature review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036458 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. e036458

Author(s):

Jason W Boland ◽

Megan E L Brown ◽

Angelique Duenas ◽

Gabrielle M Finn ◽

Jane Gibbins

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Medical Students ◽

Teaching Method ◽

Data Extraction ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Care Teaching ◽

Teaching Interventions ◽

Meta Analyses

Palliative care is central to the role of all clinical doctors. There is variability in the amount and type of teaching about palliative care at undergraduate level. Time allocated for such teaching within the undergraduate medical curricula remains scarce. Given this, the effectiveness of palliative care teaching needs to be known.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of palliative care teaching for undergraduate medical students.DesignA systematic review was prepared according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidance. Screening, data extraction and quality assessment (mixed methods and Cochrane risk of bias tool) were performed in duplicate.Data sourcesEmbase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane and grey literature in August 2019. Studies evaluating palliative care teaching interventions with medical students were included.Results1446 titles/abstracts and 122 full-text articles were screened. 19 studies were included with 3253 participants. 17 of the varied methods palliative care teaching interventions improved knowledge outcomes. The effect of teaching on clinical practice and patient outcomes was not evaluated in any study.ConclusionsThe majority of palliative care teaching interventions reviewed improved knowledge of medical students. The studies did not show one type of teaching method to be better than others, and thus no ‘best way’ to provide teaching about palliative care was identified. High quality, comparative research is needed to further understand effectiveness of palliative care teaching on patient care/clinical practice/outcomes in the short-term and longer-term.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018115257.

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Perception of Palliative Care among Medical Students in a Teaching Hospital

Journal of Nepal Medical Association ◽

10.31729/jnma.2772 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 53 (198) ◽

pp. 113-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Samiksha Pandey ◽

Deepshikha Gaire ◽

Sheela Dhakal ◽

Neelam Jaishwal ◽

Pushpa Mani Kharal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Teaching Hospital ◽

Institute Of Medicine ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Medical Study ◽

Life Threatening Illness ◽

Life Threatening ◽

Care Perception

Introduction: Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness. Palliative care must be a part of every medical personnel’s practice. But still medical education curriculums have not included palliative care in its syllabus, sufficiently due to which most of the health professional are not aware about this specialty. The purpose of this study is to find out the perception of the medical students in palliative care in a teaching hospital. Methods: A descriptive study was done among 270 undergraduate medical students studying in Institute of Medicine using a self structured pretested questionnaire. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed by using SPSS 21. Results: Of the total 270 undergraduate medical students only 152 has heard the word “palliative care”. Only 84 students know, palliative care can be provided early in the life threatening illness. Total 80 students know it doesn’t intend to postpone and hasten death. Though only 49 students didn’t know PC is not included in our curriculum, 227 are interested to learn about it if given any opportunity. Conclusions: The perception of palliative care medicine is low in first couple of year of medical study. It is increased in clinically exposed students but is surprisingly more in fourth year than final year undergraduate medical students. However, it should be included in undergraduate medical study. Keywords: medical students; palliative care; perception.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF MEDICAL STUDENTS ABOUT RADIOTHERAPY AND PALLIATIVE CARE

The Professional Medical Journal ◽

10.29309/tpmj/2014.21.02.2176 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 (02) ◽

pp. 325-332

Author(s):

Abeer Nisar Arain Arain ◽

Zunaira Abdul Ghaffar ◽

Naveed-ur- Rehman ◽

M. N. Siddiqi ◽

Raza Rehman

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

College Choice ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Cancer Information ◽

Cancer Knowledge ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Medical College ◽

Treatment Knowledge

Objective: To assess the knowledge of undergraduate medical students aboutradiotherapy, cancer and palliative care in cancer. Method: A descriptive study to assess theknowledge of radiotherapy, cancer and palliative care is conducted among undergraduatemedical students of Dow Medical College. 300 students from each batch of fourth and final yearwere assessed for knowledge of radiotherapy, palliative care, cancer knowledge, cancerprevention, students’ visits to radiotherapy units, source of cancer information, teachingprograms of radiotherapy in medical college, choice of career and participation in palliative carecourse during their undergraduate years. Results: 246 questionnaires were returned. 41% ofstudents correctly answered to different questions related to the knowledge about radiotherapy.Data regarding cancer treatment knowledge among students showed an average of 32%. Thegeneral knowledge regarding cancer among the students was present in approximately twothirds(60%) of participants. The knowledge regarding cancer prevention prevailed around36.04%. Conclusions: There is a need to change the perception of palliative care and radiationtherapy among medical students. Teaching of radiotherapy should begin early in theundergraduate curriculum of MBBS, and it should be mandatory for all the students. Oncologyrotations should be constructed where the principles of radiotherapy and palliative care can beconveyed.

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Examining the effect of non-specialised clinical rotations upon medical students’ Thanatophobia and Self-efficacy in Palliative Care: a prospective observational study in two medical schools

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041144 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. e041144

Author(s):

Guilherme Gryschek ◽

Dario Cecilio-Fernandes ◽

Guilherme Antonio Moreira de Barros ◽

Stephen Mason ◽

Marco Antonio de Carvalho-Filho

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Critical Care ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Medical Students ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Clinical Experiences ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Clinical Rotations

IntroductionIncluding palliative care (PC) in overloaded medical curricula is a challenge, especially where there is a lack of PC specialists. We hypothesised that non-specialised rotations could provide meaningful PC learning when there are enough clinical experiences, with adequate feedback.ObjectiveObserve the effects of including PC topics in non-specialised placements for undergraduate medical students in two different medical schools.DesignObservational prospective study.SettingMedical schools in Brazil.Participants134 sixth-year medical students of two medical schools.MethodsThis was a longitudinal study that observed the development of Self-efficacy in Palliative Care (SEPC) and Thanatophobia (TS) in sixth-year medical students in different non-specialised clinical rotations in two Brazilian medical schools (MS1 and MS2). We enrolled 78 students in MS1 during the Emergency and Critical Care rotation and 56 students in MS2 during the rotation in Anaesthesiology. Both schools provide PC discussions with different learning environment and approaches.Primary outcomesSEPC and TS Scales were used to assess students at the beginning and the end of the rotations.ResultsIn both schools’ students had an increase in SEPC and a decrease in TS scores.ConclusionNon-specialised rotations that consider PC competencies as core aspects of being a doctor can be effective to develop SEPC and decrease TS levels.

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Assessing knowledge of Medical undergraduate students on palliative care in end-stage disease patients

Einstein (São Paulo) ◽

10.1590/s1679-45082010ao1464 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 162-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sandra Alamino Felix de Moraes ◽

Maisa Carla Kairalla

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Previous Experience ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Wrong Answer ◽

Stage Disease ◽

Medical Undergraduate ◽

End Stage ◽

Medical Undergraduate Students

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the knowledge on palliative care of undergraduate medical students of the 9th and 10th semesters at Universidade Nove de Julho. Methods: A self-applied and self-explanatory questionnaire was prepared with 9 objective questions and given to 50 undergraduate medical students of these semesters. The content was related to palliative care, addressing some topics, such as orthothanasia, dysthanasia, euthanasia and clinical cases. The questionnaire was applied from November 2007 to February 2008. Results: As to correct answers, the rates were 84%, 42%, 38% and 40% to questions 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Question 7 was correctly answered by 84% and Question 8 by 30%. Question 9 achieved 100% correct answers. Regarding Question 5, there was no right or wrong answer, and 24% of the students chose alternative A, 32%, alternative B and 44%, alternative C. In Question 6, the students could tick more than one alternative, if necessary: 22% chose alternative A, 6%, alternative B, 2%, alternative C, 20% chose D and 6% responded alternative E; 36% opted for both alternatives B and D, and 6% of students answered alternatives B, C and D. Conclusions: Medical students that will conclude the undergraduate course are aware of the nature and the importance of palliative care, even when they have no previous experience during training at university.

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