Attitudes of preclinical medical students towards caring for chronically ill and dying patients: does palliative care teaching make a difference?

INTRODUCTION Students entering medical school today will encounter an ageing population and a higher incidence of diseases affecting the elderly-for example, chronic respiratory and cardiac disease and malignancy. PURPOSE This study was carried out to determine the attitudes of preclinical medical students towards the care of patients for whom a cure is not possible. METHODS All students were invited to complete a 23 item questionnaire prior to initial teaching and again following the second teaching session in palliative care. RESULTS Overall, 149 of the 186 students (80%) completed the pre-teaching questionnaire (59 males and 90 females; median age 20 years, range 19-27 years), and 66 students (35%) completed the post-teaching questionnaire. Attitudes towards chronically ill and dying patients were generally positive. It was found that increasing age was associated with a more positive view of caring for patients with chronic or terminal illness, a more positive view of listening to patients reminisce, and a more positive view of patients dying at home (p = 0.014). The only notable result was that after palliative care teaching students had a significantly more positive view of hospices. CONCLUSION Caring for patients at the end of life can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a doctor. This study suggests that the majority of medical students have a positive attitude towards patients with chronic incurable illness, and the trend for encouraging older students to enter medicine may be an influencing factor.