36 ‘Prescribing morphine scares me’; the benefit of a palliative care teaching series for junior doctors and medical students

<h3>Background</h3> All specialities are responsible for the management of patients approaching the end of their lives. Foundation doctors are frequently involved in their assessment and management, with the average FY1 doctor caring for 40 patients who die, and 120 who are in the last months of life.¹ However, significant variation exists in the amount of palliative care focused teaching that students receive in UK medical schools,^{2 3} resulting in one study highlighting that 56.9% of foundation doctors do not feel confident in providing end of life care.⁴ <h3>Aims</h3> To determine if a palliative care teaching series is beneficial for foundation doctors and medical students. <h3>Methods</h3> The teaching series was created and reviewed by the palliative care team, focusing on 6 different key topics, including opioid prescribing, identifying the dying patient, syringe drivers etc. Sessions were 1 hour long and the whole foundation cohort and all students were invited to attend. Members of the palliative team were in attendance to answer any questions. Participants completed a pre-session questionnaire regarding confidence and knowledge was assessed using formative questions. These were then re-assessed after the talk and feedback was gathered using Microsoft forms. <h3>Results</h3> 7 sessions were delivered over 3 months (ending 16/12/24) and 65 samples of feedback were obtained from 30 different attendees. With regards to knowledge, overall there was an mean increase of 52% in correct answers in the knowledge questions over the 6 topics. Over the series, participants felt 30% more confident with regards to the topics after attending the teaching series. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Foundation doctors and medical students feel more confident in managing patients approaching the end of life after attending the palliative care teaching series. They also demonstrated an increase in knowledge related to the 6 key topics. <h3>References</h3> Welsh Government (2022). Quality statement for palliative and end of life care for Wales Go to https://gov.wales/quality-statement-palliative-and-end-life-care-wales-html for the latest version. Get information on copyright. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/pdf-versions/2022/10/5/1665148261/quality-statement-palliative-and-end-life-care-wales.pdf. Cam.ac.uk. (2024). Barts and London – Association for Palliative Medicine Special Interest Forum. [online] Available at: https://www.apmuesif.phpc.cam.ac.uk/schools/. Walker S, Gibbins J, Barclay S, Adams A, Paes P, Chandratilake M, Gishen F, Lodge P, Wee B. Progress and divergence in palliative care education for medical students: A comparative survey of UK course structure, content, delivery, contact with patients and assessment of learning. <i>Palliative Medicine</i> 2016;<b>30</b>(9):834–842. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216315627125. Pieters J, Dolmans DHJM, Verstegen DML. <i>et al</i>. Palliative care education in the undergraduate medical curricula: students’ views on the importance of, their confidence in, and knowledge of palliative care. <i>BMC Palliat Care</i> 2019;<b>18</b>:72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-019-0458-x