Med Students Learn to Talk About Dying

Kaiser Health News featured a story about teaching med students how to talk about death to patients and families. Oregon Medical Students Face Tough Test: Talking About Dying features a test administered to med students in Oregon. ” OHSU officials say they’re the first medical students in the U.S. required to pass a tough new test in compassionate communication.”

Compassionate communication test requires that the med students “[b]y graduation this spring … be able to show that, in addition to clinical skills, they know how to admit a medical mistake, deliver a death notice and communicate effectively about other emotionally and ethically fraught issues.”  The curriculum was revamped to incorporate “communication, ethics and professionalism” throughout.   Communication is required learning in all medical schools but the OSHU approach may be groundbreaking with the evaluation component.