Medical Students’ Preparedness as Junior Doctors on Palliative Care Issues: A Single Centre Study

Introduction: Palliative care teaching has little emphasis during the undergraduate period. Most teachings in medical school are geared towards preventive and curative approach. Competency in palliative care including therapeutic and effective communication has been the taught indirectly without emphasis on other areas. We investigate medical students’ preparedness on palliative care subjects using past studies questionnaire to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and understanding on end of life issues. Method: Cross sectional study was performed on the final year medical students (class 2015) from a public university in the northern state of Peninsular Malaysia. Proforma was adopted from the previously published studies covering the aspect of knowledge, attitude, end-of-life, advanced directive and bioethical principles in palliative care. Conceptual framework of final year medical students’ preparedness was ascertained following impartment of palliative care knowledge, either directly or indirectly, after the exposure and completion of the clinical attachment. Results: The study elicited a 78.5% response rate where 133 students replied out of 177 total students. Overall the knowledge and attitude of palliative care were good. There were some misconceptions especially the use of morphine and role of physician in the management of dying patients. Conclusion: There were gaps identified following the completion of the study. Misunderstanding in different aspect of care should be remedied with more exposure and practicality suitable to undergraduate medical curriculum learning.