title: Effect of an educational program on medical students' conversations with patients about advance directives: a randomized trial.
abstract: Advance directives, such as the durable power of attorney for health care (DPAHC), help patients and physicians make end-of-life health care decisions. Medical education should prepare student physicians to be knowledgeable about and comfortable with discussing advance directives. The authors developed an educational module for the third-year medical school curriculum and conducted a randomized trial to evaluate in students its effect on various outcome measures regarding the DPAHC. Over a six-week period, students who received written material about the DPAHC and a two-hour seminar significantly increased knowledge about and reported increased skill, comfort, and experience with the DPAHC.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Doblin
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Linn
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Wenger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires