Response to: Does palliative care education matter to medical students?

BackgroundEducating medical students to care for patients at the end-of-life is increasingly recognised as an essential component of training. Traditionally, medical student programmes are run by doctors, but patient care is delivered by an interprofessional team. Our programmes in the UK and USA independently developed a teaching experience led by an interprofessional team of palliative care health professionals.ObjectivesThis study explores the palliative care health professionals’ perceptions, regarding their unique role in medical student palliative care education.MethodsThis is the first study to ascertain views of an interprofessional team delivering palliative care education to medical students. Focus groups enable interaction between members of the group as well as the generation of consensus of comments among group members.ResultsTwo major themes were identified: perceived benefits and value of the experience, and the challenges and lessons learnt from the experiences.ConclusionsDespite different structures and settings, this experiential learning in palliative care provided a rewarding interprofessional experience that has historically been difficult to achieve.

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Palliative care medical student education: a cross-sectional medical school survey in mainland China

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care ◽

10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-002044 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. bmjspcare-2019-002044

Author(s):

Guanchen Ye ◽

Jiahui Mao ◽

Jingjing Hu ◽

Jie Chen ◽

Therese Hesketh

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Medical Students ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Mainland China ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Ministry Of Education ◽

Care Education ◽

Associate Deans ◽

Palliative Care Education

ObjectiveAccording to the 2015 Quality of Death Index, China ranks 71st in terms of quality of palliative care out of 80 countries. Lack of palliative care education for health professionals is regarded as largely responsible. The study aims to evaluate the status of palliative care education for medical students in mainland China.MethodsA list of all medical schools was obtained from the Ministry of Education. A telephone survey of associate deans responsible for medical education at all 282 medical schools in mainland China was conducted in May 2019, following a standardised protocol. Telephone interviews focused on attitudes to palliative care teaching and the extent and manner in which palliative care is incorporated into the curriculum.ResultsAssociate deans from 173 (61.2%) of the 282 medical schools responded. A total of 120 schools (42.5%) completed the interview, while 53 (18.7%) evaded direct questions related to palliative care. Of the responding deans, 92 (76.7%) regarded palliative care education as very important. However, only 11 (9.2%) provided specific teaching on palliative care. A few schools (n=18) integrated palliative care education within required curricula, such as medical ethics and nursing science. The main reason reported for not providing palliative care education was that the medical curriculum dictated by the Ministry of Education does not require it.ConclusionA very small minority of medical schools in mainland China have any formal teaching about palliative care. Clearly, national standards for didactic and clinical teaching in palliative care for medical students and other health professionals are needed.

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