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Shifting medical students’ concept of a good death : impact of intergrated hospice-palliative care training within a family medicine clerkship

Eunju PARK

In countries where hospice and palliative care (HPC) services are still developing and utilization remains limited, undergraduate curricula are crucial for shaping future physicians’ approach to end-of-life care. There is a need to understand how training influences medical students’ concept of a good death, their experience of team-based care, and their openness to HPC-related careers.To evaluate whether an integrated HPC curriculum within a family medicine clerkship can: (1) reshape medical students’ concept of a good death, (2) enhance HPC knowledge and referral attitudes, and (3) increase consideration of HPC as a future career option.A prospective single-group pre-post study was conducted among 50 fourth-year medical students at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital in South Korea. During a 2-week family medicine clerkship, students received lectures on HPC principles, observed interdisciplinary team meetings and ward rounds in the hospice-palliative care unit, and participated in reflective Q&A sessions. Validated questionnaires were administered before and after the clerkship to assess perceptions of a good death (intimacy, clinical symptoms, personal control), HPC knowledge, attitudes toward referral, and interest in an HPC-related career.Overall scores for the perception of a good death remained stable; however, the intimacy domain increased (29.12 to 29.94/36, p=0.029), while the clinical symptoms domain decreased (13.50 to 12.64/20, p=0.002), suggesting a shift toward a more relationship-centered yet realistic view of end-of-life care. HPC knowledge improved (12.06 to 13.06/20, p=0.003). The mean score reflecting consideration of an HPC career rose from 26.06 to 36.48 out of 100 (p<0.001). Students rated interdisciplinary team meetings as the most influential component, followed by ward rounds.The curriculum reshaped students’ understanding of a good death and strengthened their readiness to engage with HPC. Experiential, team-based activities appeared more impactful than didactic elements in promoting attitudinal and professional changes.Embedding structured HPC training within a family medicine clerkship can foster a relationship-centered, team-based understanding of a good death and strengthen the future workforce pipeline for palliative care. These findings support using family medicine clerkships as a strategic platform for HPC education and primary palliative care capacity-building in settings where services are still developing and utilization remains suboptimal.