Medical students' knowledge on palliative care - a survey of teaching in Finland.

Background: Most studies on palliative medicine (PM) undergraduate education have focused on contents and organizational issues but not the outcome. Students' learning outcomes should be studied to improve teaching in medical schools.

Methods: A questionnaire about perceived PM education and attitudes on palliative care (PC) was sent to 543 last year students in all five Finnish medical schools in 2018-2019.

End-of-Life Care and Use of Hospital Resources in Radiotherapy-Treated Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases: A Single-Institution Retrospective Study.

Purpose: The aim of this single-institution retrospective study of patients treated with radiotherapy for brain metastases (BM) was to evaluate the timing of the palliative care (PC) decision, the use of health care services, i.e., emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, and the implementation of radiotherapy at the end of life (EOL).

The effect of palliative outpatient units on resource use for cancer patients in Finland.

Background: As cancer incidences are increasing, the means to provide effective palliative care (PC) are called for. There is evidence, that PC may prevent futile treatment at the end of life (EOL) thus implicating that PC decreases resource use at the EOL, however, the effects of outpatient PC units remain largely unknown. We surveyed the national use of Finnish tertiary care PC units and their effects on resource use at the EOL in real-life environments.