Physicians-In-Training Seek Out End Of Life Care Training

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Also Included In: Palliative Care / Hospice Care
Article Date: 23 Jun 2005 - 16:00 PDT

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End-of-life (EOL) care has become a hot family topic as well as a political battlefield. The question that needs to be addressed now is: are doctors being adequately trained to care for the dying?

In a recent survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 57 percent of U.S. medical school graduates felt prepared to care for older adults in long-term health care settings. And as many as 22 percent of students felt they received inadequate EOL training. This illustrates a significant problem with medical education since each physician-in-training will care for approximately twenty-eight dying patients each year.

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student association, announces the commencement of the third annual AMSA Foundation End of Life Education Fellowship, a program funded by the HCR Manor Care Foundation and Vitas Hospice Services, in which 18 medical students are introduced to EOL care and its role in health services delivery.

This year's program, being held in Chicago and Miami, combines an orientation to EOL care with weekly seminars and field placements at local hospices, nursing homes and inpatient hospice units. Students will be part of an interdisciplinary hospice team consisting of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, bereavement counselors and volunteers. Students will develop and practice basic interviewing and communication skills essential to EOL care, while understanding the psychological, sociological, cultural and spiritual aspects of death and dying.

AMSA also provides two interest groups that address ethical issues, including the death and dying and bioethics.

"Too often, patients die alone, in pain, and attached to machines without regard for their wishes. Future physicians must be knowledgeable on end-of-life issues and be able to provide the best possible care for their patients and their families who are facing death," says Leana S. Wen, AMSA national president. "To address the inadequacy of EOL care education in medical schools, AMSA provides many opportunities for medical students to explore end of life issues. AMSA urges all medical schools and residency programs to offer electives to educate medical students and residents in issues of death and dying."

For more information on AMSA's bioethics resources, please visit: http://www.amsa.org/bio or http://www.amsa.org/dd.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With over 50,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training as well as advancing the profession of medicine. AMSA focuses on four strategic priorities, including universal healthcare, disparities in medicine, diversity in medicine and transforming the culture of medical education. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://www.amsa.org.

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