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Outcomes
1. Describe an intervention that can be implemented at residencies with high numbers of under-represented minorities
2. Describe how the intervention improved residents’ view of their palliative care education and their perceived competency
Importance
Medical schools with larger populations of Black medical students provide less palliative care education than schools with smaller Black student populations.
Objective
To describe the impact of a palliative care educational intervention at two historically Black universities.
Methods
We administered a palliative care educational intervention in family and internal medicine residency programs at Morehouse School of Medicine and Howard University. The intervention consisted of weekly Fast Facts, monthly case reports, Zoom didactic lectures on core palliative care topics, and visiting professorships. Preintervention and postintervention surveys were sent to residents assessing attitudes toward their palliative care education and their perceived confidence in specific palliative care domains. The results were analyzed using chi-square analysis.
Results
A total of 105 (response rate 55%) residents completed preintervention surveys and 101 (42%) completed postintervention surveys. Before the intervention, 50% of residents rated their overall preparedness in palliative care as ≥7 (0-10 Likert scale); among postintervention responses, 78% (p < 0.01) of respondents reported ≥7/10. Although postintervention residents did not feel better prepared to treat symptoms, a higher percentage reported feeling well prepared to give bad news (41% postintervention vs 23% preintervention) and conduct a family meeting (44% postintervention vs 27% preintervention) (p < 0.05). Preintervention, 14% of residents felt their overall palliative care education was very good or excellent, and postintervention ratings increased to 30% (p < 0.01). Residents also reported increased confidence in ability to teach palliative care topics, from 26% preintervention to 57% postintervention (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
Implementation of a palliative care education program at two historically Black universities increased residence confidence in palliative care preparedness and communication skills.
Impact
Palliative care is an integral part of caring for chronic illnesses, many of which disproportionately affect African Americans. Training Black residents in palliative care is needed to reduce health disparities.
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Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
