Palliative Care 101 for Medical Interns: the Palliative Care Education Unit (S742)

Abstract

1.Discuss methods and results of a palliative care educational initiative targeting medical interns.2.Discuss ideas about ways to expand and implement palliative care education targeting medical interns at other institutions. The Internal Medicine Residency Program at Weill Cornell restructured its graduate medical education curriculum and developed educational units for the intern class to enhance education in a setting protected from patient care responsibilities. To develop and implement an interactive educational curriculum targeting medical interns to enhance their knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to palliative care. The Palliative Care Educational Unit comprised of 2-week blocks in which all of the interns participated in a 12-hour palliative care curriculum. The four sessions were entitled a) Death and Dying, b) Care Transitions, c) Communicating with critically ill patients and their families, and d) Prognostication and Hospice care. At the end of the last session, the interns were asked to fill out a self-assessment survey, and retrospectively rate their pre- and post- session competency in completing palliative care related tasks. Medical interns reported significant improvements in their self-competency in actively participating in seven specific tasks: 1) conducting family meetings, 2) breaking bad news, 3) discussing DNR, 4) discussing home hospice care, 5) discussing a shift in the goals of care, 6) discussing advanced directives, and 7) discussing home care options with patients and their families. The educational unit received an overall rating 4.09 on a 5 point Likert scale. The Residency Program acknowledged and embraced the need for ongoing palliative care education for its house staff. The unit helped provide interns with a basic foundation in palliative care.