Development and implementation of an innovative ward-based program to help medical students acquire end-of-life care experience.

The authors developed and implemented a new ward-based end-of-life care experience for third-year medical students at Yale University School of Medicine, which began on a pilot basis in 2005. The primary objectives of the program, which still continues, are to improve students' comfort and skills in communicating with and assessing patients facing the end of life and to reflect on their experiences. Students interview a hospitalized patient, family, and caregivers; assess specified end-of-life domains and management plans; reflect on the experience; and then prepare a report for presentation at a case conference facilitated by dedicated multidisciplinary faculty. Many students interview patients while rotating on psychiatry consults, and the case conference occurs during the psychiatry clerkship. A total of 45 students in the pilot year (2005), 76 students in the following year, and 48 thus far in the current year have completed the program. An assessment of the personal impact of the exercise on the students who completed the program in 2005 and 2006 revealed six themes, including students' recognition of the complexity of patients' reactions to dying, students' appreciation of the value of the clinicians' presence, and students' personal reflections. This experience suggests that a hands-on end-of-life exercise is feasible and will be well received in the acute inpatient setting. Key features for success include separate, dedicated faculty for the case conference (which is integrated into a single clerkship), emphasis on student self-reflection, and a requirement that the written component become part of the student's portfolio.