) We propose to create a curriculum-driven elective rotation to educate resident physicians training in primary care medicine in three separate medical training programs which are affiliated with the Northwestern University Medical School about Hospice and Palliative Care. The faculty in palliative medicine will be comprised of physicians with special expertise in hospice/palliative medicine (and the multidisciplinary team members of three hospice programs). There are two components to the one-month elective: direct patient care and didactic palliative medicine curriculum. Residents in their second and third years of training will serve as an integral part of established (multidisciplinary) Hospice/Palliative Medicine Services. They will evaluate and participate (with interdisciplinary team members) in the care of patients in general hospital, inpatient hospice/palliative care unit, and home-hospice settings. Concurrently they will receive instruction guided by an explicit curriculum in Hos-pice/Palliative Medicine. The educational objectives for residents completing the elective are 1) to improve knowledge and skill in cancer pain management, 2) to improve knowledge and skill in managing common symptoms of advanced disease, 3) to improve communication skills with patients about death and dying, and 4) to improve knowledge about the principles of palliative care, (the bio-psycho-social model of illness), optimal utilization of hospice programs, (and participation in a team approach to care).
The specific aims of the proposal are, 1) to pilot a full-time curriculum-driven Hos-pice/Palliative Medicine elective for residents training in primary care, 2) to evaluate whether the educational objectives of the curriculum have been met, 3) to use a videotaped interview between resident and standardized patient to assess essential communication skills, and 4) to formalize a faculty of Palliative Medicine drawn, in part, from an affiliation of community hospice programs with the Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The educational outcome will be assessed with an evaluation of the knowledge base of the resident before and after the rotation.
| von Gunten, Charles F; Twaddle, Martha; Preodor, Michael et al. (2005) Evidence of improved knowledge and skills after an elective rotation in a hospice and palliative care program for internal medicine residents. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 22:195-203 |
