How Do Experienced Professors Teach Palliative Medicine in European Universities? A Cross-Case Analysis of Eight Undergraduate Educational Programs.

Background: In Europe in recent decades, university teaching of palliative medicine (PM) has evolved. In some countries it has been introduced as a compulsory subject in all medical schools, but in a majority of countries it remains an isolated subject at few universities.

Objective: To explore how PM has been introduced into the curricula and how it is currently being taught at different European universities.

Comparative analysis of specialization in palliative medicine processes within the World Health Organization European region.

Context: Palliative medicine (PM), still in the development phase, is a new, growing specialty aimed at caring for both oncology and non-oncology patients. There is still confusion about the training offered in the various European PM certification programs.

Objectives: To provide a detailed, comparative update and analysis of the PM certification process in Europe, including the different training approaches and their main features.

The 'surprise' question in advanced cancer patients: A prospective study among general practitioners.

Background: Using the 'surprise' question 'Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next year?' may improve physicians' prognostic accuracy and identify people appropriate for palliative care.

Aim: Determine the prognostic accuracy of general practitioners asking the 'surprise' question about their patients with advanced (stage IV) cancer.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Palliative care training and research: the development in europe and the bologna experience.

Development of palliative care (PC) culture spur the need of proper and formal training. Palliative medicine is not fully recognized as an academic medical discipline due to its humanistic influences, and studies show that physicians declare to be not prepared to provide care and pain management to dying patients. Nowadays, despite leading countries in PC being considered more innovative than other countries,such as Italy, facts show that the achievement of acknowledged discipline went through a long process.