title: Teaching advance care planning to medical students with a computer-based decision aid.
abstract: Discussing end-of-life decisions with cancer patients is a crucial skill for physicians. This article reports findings from a pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of a computer-based decision aid for teaching medical students about advance care planning. Second-year medical students at a single medical school were randomized to use a standard advance directive or a computer-based decision aid to help patients with advance care planning. Students' knowledge, skills, and satisfaction were measured by self-report; their performance was rated by patients. 121/133 (91%) of students participated. The Decision-Aid Group (n = 60) outperformed the Standard Group (n = 61) in terms of students' knowledge (p < 0.01), confidence in helping patients with advance care planning (p < 0.01), knowledge of what matters to patients (p = 0.05), and satisfaction with their learning experience (p < 0.01). Likewise, patients in the Decision Aid Group were more satisfied with the advance care planning method (p < 0.01) and with several aspects of student performance. Use of a computer-based decision aid may be an effective way to teach medical students how to discuss advance care planning with cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Humanities and Internal Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, C1743, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. mjg15@psu.edu
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Benjamin H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Levi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032722:Advance Care Planning; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching; D055815:Young Adult