title: Caring for dying patients--what are the attitudes of medical students?
abstract: Students entering medical school today will encounter an ageing population and a higher incidence of patients with terminal and life threatening illness. This study was carried out to determine the attitudes of pre-clinical medical students towards the care of patients for whom a cure is not possible. All students were invited to complete a 23-item questionnaire prior to any teaching in palliative care. Of the 186 students who participated in the study, 151 (79%) completed the pre-teaching questionnaire (males=59; females 90; median age 20 years; range 19-27]. Attitudes towards chronically ill and dying patients were generally positive. When comparing age with attitudes it was found that increasing age was associated with a more positive view of caring for patients with chronic or terminal illness, a more positive view of listening to patients reminisce and a more positive view of patients dying at home. Caring for patients at the end of life can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a doctor. This study suggests that the majority of medical students have a positive attitude towards patients with chronic and terminal illness-the trend for encouraging older students to enter medicine may be an influencing factor.
authors.affiliation: Liverpool Medical School, Harrison Hughes Building, Brownlow Hill, L69 3, Liverpool, UK. mlw@liv.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lloyd-Williams
authors.forename: Nisha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dogra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom