Improving medical graduates' training in palliative care: advancing education and practice.

The needs of an aging population and advancements in the treatment of both chronic and life-threatening diseases have resulted in increased demand for quality palliative care. The doctors of the future will need to be well prepared to provide expert symptom management and address the holistic needs (physical, psychosocial, and spiritual) of patients dealing with serious illness and the end of life. Such preparation begins with general medical education.

Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Curriculum Teaching Team-Based Palliative Care Integration in Oncology.

For students of the health care professions to succeed in today's health care environment, they must be prepared to collaborate with other professionals and practice on interdisciplinary teams. As most will care for patients with cancer, they must also understand the principles of palliative care and its integration into oncology. This article reports the success of one university's effort to design and implement an interdisciplinary curriculum teaching team-based palliative care in oncology which was mandatory for medical, nursing, social work, and chaplaincy students.

The Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Oncology Palliative Care Education (iCOPE): meeting the challenge of interprofessional education.

Unlabelled: Background: Interprofessional education is necessary to prepare students of the health professions for successful practice in today's health care environment. Because of its expertise in interdisciplinary practice and team-based care, palliative care should be leading the way in creating educational opportunities for students to learn the skills for team practice and provision of quality patient-centered care. Multiple barriers exist that can discourage those desiring to create and implement truly interdisciplinary curriculum.

A case of inappropriate apolipoprotein e testing in Alzheimer's disease due to lack of an informed consent discussion.

Background/objective: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genetic testing is used to assist in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Whenever genetic testing is performed, an informed consent process should occur.

Methods: In this case, a patient with memory loss presented to the neurologist.

"I will never forget": what we learned from medical student reflections on a palliative care experience.

Purpose: To use reflective writing to evaluate a new required palliative care experience for third year medical students.

Method: 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.