The forgotten educational needs of the house staff: training internal medicine residents to address end-of-life issues.

An intervention was conducted, aimed at providing residents in internal medicine with communication skills to address end-of-life issues with patients. Residents participated in two 1-hour educational sessions designed to teach a communication protocol, enhance listening skills, and to provide practice in effective communication in a safe, small-group format. An anonymous on-line survey assessed the effectiveness of the intervention. Twenty-five residents completed the intervention. There was a trend toward increased comfort level in addressing end-of-life issues among residents who completed the intervention, versus a comparison group. Residents who completed the intervention reported that using the words "death" and "dying" with patients and families was an important teaching point.