Are `Giving bad news` difficult situations for medical students?

Abstract

Backround: Discussions about end-of-life are difficult issues for physicians to initiate. What about medical students? Do they have enough education about these issues? Aim: In this study our aim was not only to learn their approaches about giving bad news but also to apply a learning method by adding role playing to the elective lesson titled as `giving bad news` to our undergraduate curriculum. Methods: Study group was the third year medical students, who were elected `Approaches to Primary Care Patients` lesson which was given from lecturers of Family Medicine Department. A questionnarie was performed in the beginning and at the end of the lesson. Between these two period a role-playing demonstration was performed from two voluntary students related the subject. Results: Fifteen female (62,5%), 9 male (37;5%), total 24 elective lesson students were par tic i pated. Most of the stu dents (79,2%) stated our pres ent un der grad u ate cur ric u lum de fi cient related giving bad news. More than 90% feeling disturbed, concerned and insecure in giving bad news. After the lesson and role-playing demonstrations more than 90% of the students found this type of training efficacious and practical. Conclusion: Giving bad news is a very important communication skill. As family physicians play a key role on patient care we need to learn the methods and as lecturer to teach them to our medical students. Student integration to the training method can be benefical to internalize the subject. Scripta Scientifica Medica 2007;39(1):95-98