Teaching end-of-life issues: current status in United Kingdom and United States medical schools.
Our objective was to determine how broadly end-of-life issues are represented in the undergraduate medical school curricula of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). Mailed surveys yielded response rates of 100 percent in the UK and 92 percent in the US. With one exception, all medical schools in the survey offered some exposure to dying, death, and bereavement and most addressed the topic of palliative care. Hospice involvement was found in 96 percent of UK medical schools but in only 50 percent of US schools. Overall, the UK appears to provide more exposure to end-of-life issues in medical schools, although the US appears to be moving in that direction.
Dickinson
George E
GE
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Field
David
D
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008486:Physician Executives / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States