A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved]
Background: Despite the inevitable nature of death and dying, the conversations surrounding this subject are still uncomfortable for many physicians and medical students. Methods: A six-week humanities-based course, “A Biopsychosocial Approach to Death, Dying, & Bereavement,” at Cooper Medical S...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
F1000 Research Ltd
2022-11-01
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| Series: | MedEdPublish |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://mededpublish.org/articles/12-44/v4 |
| _version_ | 1797766885233655808 |
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| author | Simran Kripalani Shivani Raizada Sandra Joy Elizabeth Cerceo |
| author_facet | Simran Kripalani Shivani Raizada Sandra Joy Elizabeth Cerceo |
| author_sort | Simran Kripalani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Despite the inevitable nature of death and dying, the conversations surrounding this subject are still uncomfortable for many physicians and medical students. Methods: A six-week humanities-based course, “A Biopsychosocial Approach to Death, Dying, & Bereavement,” at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, United States, which covers definitions of death and dying, the process of dying, ethical dilemmas, and new concepts of the grieving process. Through development of a curriculum using various academic and medical literature and resources, we sought to bring attention to the necessity of having a medical education curriculum on death and dying to prepare medical students for the difficult conversations and patient experiences that lie ahead of them. Qualitative data in the form of surveys and reflection papers submitted by students and quantitative data (Likert scores on course satisfaction) were collected and analyzed both pre- and post-course. Results: 90.7% (49/54) of the respondents answered that they agree or strongly agree with the statement that this selective course was useful in the student’s medical education experience. The top three qualitative themes brought up the most in reflection papers (n=54) were: the utility and instruction of the course (21 times), the importance of hospice and palliative care (20 times), avoidance around topics of death (15 times). Conclusions: Medical students are often not prepared to cope with the realities of patient loss and of caring for the patient and their families throughout the dying process. We created this course to familiarize medical students with an aspect of the medical experience that is frequently neglected in traditional medical curricula. We learned that integrating such a course can help educate medical students facilitate important conversations, teach them to act with kindness and dignity in a physician-patient setting, and enhance their personal understanding of death and dying. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:31:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e13b74e612f24744a84f7c16b39182a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2312-7996 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:31:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | MedEdPublish |
| spelling | doaj.art-e13b74e612f24744a84f7c16b39182a12023-08-02T00:00:00ZengF1000 Research LtdMedEdPublish2312-79962022-11-011220794A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved]Simran Kripalani0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5666-6002Shivani Raizada1Sandra Joy2Elizabeth Cerceo3Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, 18103, USACooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, 18103, USACooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, 18103, USACooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, 18103, USABackground: Despite the inevitable nature of death and dying, the conversations surrounding this subject are still uncomfortable for many physicians and medical students. Methods: A six-week humanities-based course, “A Biopsychosocial Approach to Death, Dying, & Bereavement,” at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, United States, which covers definitions of death and dying, the process of dying, ethical dilemmas, and new concepts of the grieving process. Through development of a curriculum using various academic and medical literature and resources, we sought to bring attention to the necessity of having a medical education curriculum on death and dying to prepare medical students for the difficult conversations and patient experiences that lie ahead of them. Qualitative data in the form of surveys and reflection papers submitted by students and quantitative data (Likert scores on course satisfaction) were collected and analyzed both pre- and post-course. Results: 90.7% (49/54) of the respondents answered that they agree or strongly agree with the statement that this selective course was useful in the student’s medical education experience. The top three qualitative themes brought up the most in reflection papers (n=54) were: the utility and instruction of the course (21 times), the importance of hospice and palliative care (20 times), avoidance around topics of death (15 times). Conclusions: Medical students are often not prepared to cope with the realities of patient loss and of caring for the patient and their families throughout the dying process. We created this course to familiarize medical students with an aspect of the medical experience that is frequently neglected in traditional medical curricula. We learned that integrating such a course can help educate medical students facilitate important conversations, teach them to act with kindness and dignity in a physician-patient setting, and enhance their personal understanding of death and dying.https://mededpublish.org/articles/12-44/v4medical education end-of-life care death dying bereavementeng |
| spellingShingle | Simran Kripalani Shivani Raizada Sandra Joy Elizabeth Cerceo A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] MedEdPublish medical education end-of-life care death dying bereavement eng |
| title | A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_full | A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_fullStr | A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_short | A biopsychosocial approach to death, dying, and bereavement: a course on end-of-life education for medical students [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_sort | biopsychosocial approach to death dying and bereavement a course on end of life education for medical students version 4 peer review 1 approved 3 approved with reservations 1 not approved |
| topic | medical education end-of-life care death dying bereavement eng |
| url | https://mededpublish.org/articles/12-44/v4 |
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