Teaching end-of-life issues: current status in United Kingdom and United States medical schools.

Full Abstract

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.

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Author information

Author/s: Dickinson, George E (GE); Field, David (D);

Affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The American journal of hospice & palliative care (Am J Hosp Palliat Care), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2002 May-Jun; vol 19 (issue 3) : pp 181-6

Dates: Created 2002/05/23; Completed 2002/08/02; Revised 2006/07/14;

PMID: 12026041, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Attitude of Health Personnel
Attitude to Death
Bereavement
Curriculum - standards
Education, Medical, Undergraduate - organization & administration
Ethics, Medical
Faculty, Medical - organization & administration

Great Britain
Humans
Physician Executives - psychology
Questionnaires
Teaching - methods
Terminal Care - organization & administration
United States

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