Theme
Trends in curriculum planning and development
Category
Curriculum planning
INSTITUTION
MOH
Interdisciplinary medical education lacks standardized curricula for teaching palliative care in Saudi Arabia. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of a multimodal teaching course on interdisciplinary teams knowledge of palliative care, and their beliefs relating to ethical decision-making.
A 2-days intensive course for interdisciplinary professionals can improve the knowledge and beliefs about ethical decision-making in managing terminally ill patients. Clinical skills of symptom management, especially pain control, and ethical decision-making regarding artificial nutrition and hydration should be emphasized in medical education, to promote professionals’ competence in end-of-life care.
This study had a quasi-experimental design. This study was coducted in palliative care department in King Fahad Medical City.The teaching formats included didactic lectures, microteaching, small group teaching, and interactive discussions.. All participants completed a pretest, posttest questionnaire (immediately following their training session). A structured questionnaire evaluated the effects of educational intervention—in terms of knowledge of palliative care and beliefs about common ethical dilemmas relating to end-of-life care in Saudi Arabia.
Interdisciplinary training needed in palliative care education.
All 23 professionals who participated in the course completed the questionnaire. Interdisciplinary professionals showed significant improvement (score of 10.5 pre-test vs. 13.8 post-test; p < 0.001) in the 20-item palliative care knowledge questionnaire after educational intervention. Among the four common ethical dilemmas, health professionals’ beliefs of truth-telling (4.19 vs. 4.55; range 1–5; t = −4.64; p < 0.001) and place of care (4.26 vs. 4.50; range 1–5; t =−2.34; p < 0.05) were significantly improved. Logistic regression showed that the improvement in beliefs about ethical decision-making was not significantly influenced by improved knowledge of palliative care.
1.Palliative care department in KFMC-Riyadh.
2. Postgraduate family medicine taining center-MOH.
1.Laura Petri .Concept Analysis of Interdisciplinary Collaboration.Nursing Forum.Vol 45 Issue 2.pages 73-82.April 2012.