Table 2.

Sample Characteristics, Coursework and Clinical Training in End-of-Life Care, and Extent of Exposure to Dying Patients

Characteristics	Students (N = 1,455)	Residents (N = 296)	Faculty (N = 287)
Gender, % female	43	40	19
Mean age, y ±SD	28.3 ± 3.6	31.5 ± 3.8	48.0 ± 9.4
Ethnicity, %
White	69	69	82
Asian	16	16	5
African American	5	6	3
Other*	10	9	10
Have taken a course in end-of-life care,†%	18	–	–
Completed a rotation in end-of-life care,†,‡%	9	16	–
Clinical time taught by residents, mean percent ±SD	54.4 ± 17.3	–	–
Patients cared for at the end of life in past year, mean n±SD	6.2 ± 8.7
Inpatients		26.3 ± 54.0	22.1 ± 48.9
Outpatients		2.4 ± 9.7	5.9 ± 14.4
Academic rank, %, faculty only
Instructor			5
Assistant professor			37
Associate professor			30
Professor			28

^*Includes Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaskan native, Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or mixed race/ethnicity.

^†Students were asked: “In medical school, have you taken a course or had a clinical clerkship that was primarily focused on end-of-life care, that would include hospice care and palliative care but not ICU or oncology? Did you take a course, do a clerkship, or do both?” For all respondents, end-of-life care was defined as follows: “End-of-life care means such things as working with patients who have a terminal illness and managing a patient's care during the last few weeks or days of life, and includes hospice and palliative care.”

^‡Residents were asked: “During your residency, have you done a rotation that was primarily focused on end-of-life care, that would include hospice care and palliative care but not ICU or oncology?” When asked about their residency, residents were asked to include both internship and residency.