Palliative Care: Research and Treatment

Objective: To evaluate the final-year medical students' perception of their competencies related to palliative care.

Materials and Methods: Two consecutive anonymous surveys at 6 and 12 months among 6th-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University.

Results: One hundred and ten (66%) and 103 (62%) students completed the questionnaires at 6 and 12 months, respectively. With the criteria that at least 80% of them should be confident to manage the cases independently or under supervision, they perceived themselves to be good at holistic care and communication skills, but lacking in common symptoms management and ethical aspects. The common promoting factors and barriers for their learning experiences were reported.

Conclusion: This study identified many aspects necessary to improve the students' learning experience in our compulsory longitudinal integrated palliative care curriculum.