Attitude Survey toward Palliative Medicine in Medical Students Starting Clinical Clerkship

<p> Purpose: Few surveys have demonstrated that medical students’ understanding of palliative care in Japan. This study’s aim is to examine whether medical students prior to beginning clinical clerkship are ready to learn palliative care. Methods: Prior to the commencement of participatory clinical training, approval was obtained from the Kagawa University Faculty of Medicine Research Ethics Committee for the execution of this study. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 105 students enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at our university, focusing on their confidence in achieving the learning objectives for “Palliative Care” outlined in the Medical Education Model Core Curriculum. Participants rated the confidence to the nine learning objectives related to palliative care (ranging from 0 points indicating no confidence to 100 points indicating full confidence). A comparison of the nine items was conducted using the Kruskal–Wallis test, followed by Scheffe’s multiple comparison test. A significance level of P<0.05 was applied. Results: The response rate was 62.9% (66 out of 105 students). Confidence in achieving the learning objectives varied, with item 6, “Understanding the concept and definition of death and the biology of organismal death,” being significantly higher than the other five items (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed among the other items. Conclusion: The need for systematic preparatory education on palliative care for medical students who are about to enter clinical practice is suggested.</p>