Management of terminal illness: a medical school-hospice partnership model to teach medical students about end-of-life care.

Physicians are not only called upon to deal with biological, but also with psychosocial issues and concerns in the treatment of the terminally ill. Their training, however, usually does not prepare them to value palliative care, or help them cope with personal feelings about death and possible grief over a patient's loss. The authors describe what one medical school is doing regarding the challenge of preparing medical students to deal more competently and confidently with end-of-life scenarios they will encounter as primary care practitioners in underserved areas of a rural state.