Wisconsin medical journal
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Wisconsin medical journal · Jan 1995
Palliative medicine education at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Palliative medicine is an emerging worldwide discipline. This article describes efforts at the Medical College of Wisconsin to develop programs to enhance palliative care education and clinical care. ⋯ Palliative care activities include both the academic medical center and community health agencies. The MCW has integrated palliative care into its academic environment so that trainees at all education levels now have opportunities for didactic and clinical palliative care education.
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Advance directives (ADs) are instructions from patients to their physician and family regarding their wishes for medical care in the event they become incapable of communicating those wishes. This study sought to describe the characteristics of adults who have completed advance directives and those who have expressed interest in them, and to determine what distinguishes these groups from the group with no interest in ADs. A further objective was to survey the study population on the barriers to completion of ADs. ⋯ Multiple barriers to completing ADs were identified. Advance directives are still used by relatively few people despite a general openness and interest in them. Few characteristics, demographic and otherwise, were identified to distinguish those who completed ADs from those who did not.