Learning to care even when there is no cure: Reflections from a student physician on healing those near death

Abstract

Although death is a natural part of living, many peoplefear death. Physiciam often feel uncomfortable when a patient is dying and they can offer nothing of a curative or technical nature. Medical education perpetuates this attitude: We spend much more time and learn to be much more comfortable discussing what pathological processes cause a person to die than we do discussing how we feel about their death, how they felt as they were dying, or what the death may mean to their loved ones. Medical students report that the topics of dying and bereavement cause them much worry; little time, however, is devoted to these topics in medical education. Doctors receive limited training in learning to communicate easily with patients and inadequate education in care ofthe dying, and they may be poorily equipped to deal with death and dying. This article examines national trends in medical education on death-and-dying-related topics and advocates greater emphiasis on these topics and exposure to caring for dying patients both within medical school and throughout postgraduate training. While it is obuiously diffiult to balance the need for greater education on death and dying topics within medical school with the already substantial volume of essential information, we must realize that by better training physicians in these areas, we can substantially impprove the quality of care offered to patients who are near death.