Palliative Care Curriculum for M3s

1. Beginning of Medicine Rotation: Orientation Day 3:00-5:00
   
   • Intro, expectations, goals to include discussion of narrative student is to write about an experience with a dying person during the rotation. (If they get to their 3rd month without having encountered a dying person, we will make arrangements for them to meet with a patient from oncology clinic, Thomas Palliative Care Unit, VA Hospice or Outpatient. hospice.)
     
     
   • Website with essays, poems, narratives re: EOL specific skills and techniques of palliative care; a guide with sample issues and questions to address in their narrative
     
     
   • Discussion of breaking bad news, advance directives, the meaning of DNR, case discussions
     
   • 90 minutes skills and techniques in palliative care (condensed EPEC)
     • pain control
     • dyspnea
     • nausea and vomiting
     • constipation
     • depression and delirium
     • dysgeusia, anorexia
     • last minutes of life
     • grieving, dealing with loss
     • discussion of the spiritual assessment using the HOPE acronym
     • discussion of place of spirituality in the care of sick and dying patients and their families
       
       
2. Afternoon of written exam: 2 hours 1-3
   
   • Students meet in 2-3 small groups with a faculty facilitator (see below), hand in narratives, some may read them aloud or they will be read anonymously. Narratives, like the diet sheets, must be handed in for the students to receive a grade, and may positively influence their final grade.
     
   • This is their time to discuss their patients, families, decompress, debrief, grieve, question, rage.also a time to discuss and review palliative care techniques used for their dying patients.
     
     
3. Faculty
   

   Laurie Lyckholm MD, Director	Linda Abbey, MD
   Susan DiGiovanni, MD	Paul Fairman, MD
   Mary Helen Hackney, MD	Cathy Kelso, MD
   Kathy Kreutzer, MEd	Sara Monroe, MD
   Venkatarama R. Koppaka, MD, PhD	Betsy Ripley, MD
   James Shaw, MD	Tom Smith, MD
   Pat Coyne, RN, MSN	Peter Boling, MD
   Wade Smith, MD	Rita Willett, MD
   Anna Vinnikova, M.D	Laura P. Finch, RN-C, GNP
   Tamara Sacks, MD	Jennie Webb-Wright, MD