Abstract
Background. The authors measured the impact of a clinical hospice experience in medical school on present medical practice by surveying former students after graduation. Methods and Results. Of the graduates who apparently received anonymous questionnaires, 46 (71%) completed and returned them. Most were still in residency, and about a third were in private practice. Using a Likert scale, most gave the highest possible rankings in response to questions about how the experience had affected their present day‐to‐day communication with patients and their working knowledge of pain control, and the general question that asked about understanding quality‐of‐life issues. Written responses noted positive effects of the experience on the physicians’ present practices, including improved knowledge of and attitudes towards dying patients, assessment of the effects of disease on patients and families, and quality‐of‐life. Conclusions. Although course work about death and dying is increasingly encountered in medical‐school curricula, an intensive, focused clinical exposure is often lacking. This type of exposure has positive effects on physicians’ self‐assessments of their knowledge, attitudes, and skills in their present practices. J Cancer Educ. 1999;14:144‐147.