Implementing cancer pain education for medical students

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a cancer pain education course for medical student, using a structure home hospice visit. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY: A 1-hour home hospice visit was presented to 57 senior medical student. The content and objective criteria for the structured home hospice visit were developed by an multidisciplinary group of experts. During a 1-hour interview, students completed a cancer pain history, performed a focused physical examination, and received feedback and teaching regarding the essentials of cancer pain management from the hospice nurse. All students and hospice patients completed a multi-item evaluation questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) regarding the structured home hospice visit. RESULTS: Most students agreed strongly that the home hospice visit was a positive experience (mean ± SD 4.8 ± 0.44) that helped them to understand the management of cancer pain (mean 4.7 ± 0.46) and opioid-related side effects (mean 4.5 ± ± 0.57). Most patients enjoyed visiting with the students (mean 4.90 ± 0.30), agreed that the visit was not tiring (mean 4.81 ± 0.51), and felt that they benefited from participating (mean 4.76 ± 0.54). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The authors concluded the following: 1) that medical students benefited from learning about cancer pain assessment and management through the use of a structured home hospice visit; 2) that a structured home hospice visit helped the students to learn the basics of cancer pain management; 3) that patients enjoyed their role as teacher for medical students, and 4) that senior hospice nurses provided excellent instruction for medical students in the management of cancer pain.