title: "I will never forget": what we learned from medical student reflections on a palliative care experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To use reflective writing to evaluate a new required palliative care experience for third year medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors used a constant comparison method based on grounded theory to conduct a thematic analysis of reflective writings produced by third-year medical students completing a mandatory week-long clinical rotation in palliative care during academic year 2010 at the University of Louisville.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two broad thematic categories were identified: what the students learned and what the students experienced. Student writings revealed learning about palliative care (pain management, family meetings, goals of care, patient-family centered care, timing of palliative care, and delivering bad news); being a doctor (knowledge, communication, presence, empathy, not giving false hope, and person-focused care); the patient (importance of family, the experience of dying, and the uniqueness of each patient); and themselves (need to be non-judgmental, ability to do palliative care, self-limitations, becoming a better physician, and dealing with death). Student reflections centered on encounters with patients and families, internal emotional responses, and self-transformation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Systematic analysis of reflective writing provides educators with valuable data about students' learning experiences. These results may inform the design and modification of the curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Palliative Medicine, and Education, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA. barbara.head@louisville.edu
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Head
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Earnshaw
authors.forename: Ruth B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Morehead
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: Monica Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky; D010166:Palliative Care; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D014956:Writing