Table 4.

Student, Resident, and Faculty Views of How Well Their Medical Education Has Prepared Them to Provide and Teach End-of-life Care

	Rating of Preparation*
Aspect of Care or Teaching	Very Well	Moderately Well	Not Very Well/Not Well At All	Likelihood Ratio χ2 Statistic, P Value
Preparation to provide care†
Talk to a patient about his or her thoughts and fears about dying
Student	17	44	39	7.67, <.02
Resident	23	46	31
Address cultural issues related to a patient's end-of-life care
Student	13	32	55	3.55, .17
Resident	10	31	59
Address spiritual issues related to a patient's end-of-life care
Student	12	38	49	2.22, .53
Resident	12	34	54
Manage your own feelings about a patient's dying and death
Student	12	41	47	7.02, .03
Resident	15	45	40
Help family members during bereavement
Student	12	42	46	10.07, .01
Resident	14	49	37
Manage the pain of a dying patient
Student	19	54	27	31.06, <.0001
Resident	30	54	16
Discuss end-of-life care decisions with a patient
Student	21	53	26	44.00, <.0001
Resident	37	48	15
Preparation to teach‡
Talk to a patient about his or her thoughts and fears about dying
Resident	11	43	46	45.39, <.0001
Faculty	26	52	22
Address cultural issues related to a patient's end-of-life care§
Faculty	12	41	47	NA
Address spiritual issues related to a patient's end-of-life care§
Faculty	18	42	39	NA
Manage their own feelings about a patient's dying and death
Resident	6	31	63	45.18, <.0001
Faculty	19	46	35
Help family members during bereavement
Resident	9	38	53	34.68, <.0001
Faculty	24	45	31
Manage the pain of a dying patient
Resident	16	54	30	22.73, <.0001
Faculty	33	48	19
Discuss end-of-life care decisions with a patient§
Faculty	38	46	16	NA

^*Not all percentages total 100% because of rounding.

^†Student question: “Sometimes students learn from being explicitly taught and sometimes by learning skills on their own. I'd like to ask about what you've been explicitly taught in your medical school courses and clerkships, including what you have been taught in one-on-one sessions with residents and attendings. How well has your medical education prepared you to…” Resident question: “Sometimes people learn from being explicity taught and sometimes by learning skills on their own. I'd like to ask you about what you've been explicity taught in your medical education, including medical school, residency, and what you have been taught in one-on-one sessions with attendings. How well has your medical education prepared you to…”

^‡Resident question: “How well has your medical education prepared you to teach others to…” Faculty question: “How well has your training and experience prepared you to teach others to…”

^§Residents were not asked about these items.