Department of Medicine, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, PO Box 51900, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
BMC Med Educ. 2021 Oct 9;21(1):526. doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02966-4.
The provision of comprehensive, high quality palliative care (PC) is a global public health concern. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), palliative medicine services are limited, and most patients in need of PC are treated in the acute hospital setting, where health professionals of all specialties provide treatment. Improving end-of-life care requires teaching medical students, residents, and other healthcare professionals about PC. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of PC education in medical schools in the UAE, and to identify barriers to successful implementation of a PC and end-of-life curriculum.
The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with deans from all medical schools in the UAE. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
All medical school deans in our study recognized the importance of inculcating palliative and end-of-life care into the undergraduate curriculum, but there was substantial variability in implementation, with opportunities for improvement. Barriers to the successful implementation of an undergraduate PC curriculum include (1) lack of student awareness and interest in PC, (2) inconsistent clinical exposure to PC, (3) lack of specialized PC faculty, (4) limited clinical facilities for PC training, (5) lack of a multidisciplinary approach to PC education, and (6) cultural barriers to PC education.
Understanding challenges to teaching PC in the undergraduate medical curriculum can help inform educational interventions to improve PC knowledge and skills for UAE medical students. Curricular and policy reform are necessary to educate a future generation of health professionals, who can provide high quality palliative care services to UAE patients and their families.
提供全面、高质量的姑息治疗（PC）是全球公共卫生关注的问题。在阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE），姑息医学服务有限，大多数需要 PC 的患者在急性医院环境中接受治疗，所有专业的卫生专业人员都在那里提供治疗。改善临终关怀需要向医学生、住院医师和其他医疗保健专业人员教授 PC。本研究的目的是评估阿联酋医学院校 PC 教育的现状，并确定成功实施 PC 和临终课程的障碍。
作者对阿联酋所有医学院的院长进行了半结构化访谈。使用定性内容分析对数据进行分析。
我们研究中的所有医学院院长都认识到将姑息和临终关怀纳入本科课程的重要性，但实施情况存在很大差异，有改进的机会。成功实施本科 PC 课程的障碍包括：（1）学生对 PC 的认识和兴趣不足；（2）临床接触 PC 不一致；（3）缺乏专门的 PC 教师；（4）PC 培训的临床设施有限；（5）缺乏多学科的 PC 教育方法；以及（6）PC 教育的文化障碍。
了解在本科医学课程中教授 PC 的挑战可以帮助确定教育干预措施，以提高阿联酋医学生的 PC 知识和技能。课程和政策改革对于教育未来一代卫生专业人员是必要的，他们可以为阿联酋患者及其家属提供高质量的姑息治疗服务。
