Hospice Care

Objectives:

To provide an introduction for medical students to palliative care of terminally ill patients in the home and in the hospice setting.

Description:

1. The student will learn components of pain management, specific causes and treatments for nausea and vomiting, and management of anorexia, constipation, restlessness, delirium and psychological, social and spiritual distress in terminally ill patients.
2. The student will participate as part of a treatment team, with the patient's primary physician in the care of the patient and family.
3. The student will learn basic listening skills for palliative care, how to break bad news to a patient and family, and how to engage in therapeutic dialogue with family members and between members of the treatment team. Two-week elective students will round on Hospice patients with attending physicians and independently, attend Hospice team meetings on Thursday and Friday, and make home visits with team nurses.
4. Four-week elective students will round on Hospice patients with attending physicians, attend Hospice team meetings, make home visits with team nurses, and follow one hospice patient during the month, including family visits.
   
   The reading syllabus includes the following:
   Palliative Medicine: A Case Based Manual, Neil MacDonald, Ed., Oxford University Press, 1998
   Primer of Palliative Care, Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), Porter Storey, M.D.
   
   Additional readings include:
   Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine, 2nd Edition, Doyle, Hanks, & MacDonald, Eds.
   Management of Cancer Pain, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
   Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
   Uipacs 1 through 5: Hospice and Palliative Care Training for Physicians, AAHPM
    
5. A written evaluation will be completed by faculty and head nurse at the Hospice Care Center located at 3358 Ridgewood Rd., Fairlawn, OH.

Responsible Faculty/Rank:

1. Steven M. Radwany, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, NEOMED