• Lori A Schuh, Andrew Biondo, Andrea An, Dan Newman, Stephanie Ryczko, Sandra Remer, and Leslie Bricker.
• Department of Neurology, Henry Ford Hospital, 2799 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. lschuh@neuro.hfh.edu
• J Palliat Med. 2007 Feb 1;10(1):178-81.

ObjectivesThe Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires neurology residents receive instruction in End-of-Life Care/Palliative Care (EOLPC), but survey data from 24 neurology programs in the National Residency End-of-Life Physician Education Project (NRELEP) demonstrated faculty and residents tend to rate themselves as able to perform EOLPC despite significant knowledge gaps. We participated in the NRELEP to develop an EOLPC course and assess resident learning following this new curriculum.MethodsFifteen residents and 8 nonparticipant faculty completed a content validated knowledge pretest and precourse EOLPC confidence self-assessment tool. The course plan developed during a NRELEP conference consisted of 14 weekly 1-hour sessions covering a variety of topics pertinent to EOLPC care in neurology. Sessions included lectures, role-play, and group problem-solving formats. Residents attended sessions while faculty did not. The postcourse assessment included a posttest and the EOLPC self-assessment, and was completed by 14 residents and 5 comparison faculty.ResultsThe mean pretest score was 48.1% +/- 16.9% for residents and 59.0% +/-8.2% for faculty. Posttest scores improved to 67.2% +/- 10.6% for residents (t test, p +/- 0.001), but not for the faculty group (52.4% +/- 9.9%, p = 0.2). Resident EOLPC confidence self-assessment significantly improved after the course (precourse mean, 3.09 +/- 1.01; postcourse mean, 3.40 +/- 0.93, p < 0.001), while there was no change in faculty confidence (precourse mean, 3.48 +/- 0.82; postcourse mean, 3.41 +/- 0.82, p = 0.5). Residents performed significantly better than faculty on the posttest (p = 0.01).ConclusionsAn EOLPC course was developed and implemented in this program. Residents exhibited demonstrable learning and improved self-assessment of confidence in providing EOLPC following introduction of the course.

16 keywords...

hide…