End-of-life education important for doctors
End-of-life education important for doctors
Although physicians play a key role in providing end-of-life care, they do not receive training specific to palliative care in residency programs. A study was conducted at five medical schools in Canada to assess internal medicine residents' knowledge and perceptions regarding end-of-life care.1
Of the 185 internal medicine residents participating in the survey, the majority (81.7%) agreed that learning from dying patients was meaningful. However, 48.1% of the respondents who felt that the experience was useful also reported feeling guilty, and 40.6% reported feeling like a failure at least sometimes after a patient died.
Two-thirds of the respondents had provided care to more than 10 dying patients, and 73% had conducted at least three family meetings. Respondents reported that 26.7% of the family meetings never were observed by another physician to provide feedback and support.
When asked about their competencies in end-of-life care activities, respondents reported record keeping as the highest competence and use of nonpharmacologic interventions the lowest competence. The internal medicine residents identified the use of opioids for management of pain as the highest priority for further learning.
The authors recommend that evaluation of medical residents' perception of their competencies in providing end-of-life care and the areas in which they need additional knowledge can be used to develop an effective educational program.
Reference
1. Schroder C, Heyland D, Jiang X, et al. Educating medical residents in end-of-life care: Insights from a multi-center study. J Palliat Med 2009; 12:459-70. t
Although physicians play a key role in providing end-of-life care, they do not receive training specific to palliative care in residency programs.Subscribe Now for Access
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