Primary Palliative Care Education for Trainees in U.S. Medical Residencies and Fellowships: A Scoping Review.

Background: The medical profession increasingly recognizes the growing need to educate nonpalliative physicians in palliative care. Objective: This study aims to provide a scoping review of the primary palliative care (PPC) education currently available to graduate medical trainees in primary and specialty tracks. Design: Studies of PPC interventions in U.S. residency or fellowship programs of all subspecialties published in English and listed on MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE through January 2020 were included. To meet admission criteria, studies had to describe the content, delivery methods, and evaluation instruments of a PPC educational intervention. Results: Of 233 eligible full texts, 85 studies were included for assessment, of which 66 were novel PPC educational interventions and 19 were standard education. Total number of publications evaluating PPC education increased from 8 (2000-2004) to 36 (2015-2019), across 11 residency and 10 fellowship specialties. Residency specialties representing the majority of publications were emergency medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, and pediatric/medicine-pediatrics. PPC content domains most taught in residencies were communication and symptom management; the primary delivery method was didactics, and the outcome assessed was attitudes. Fellowship specialties representing the majority of publications were pediatric subspecialties, nephrology, and oncology. The PPC content domain most taught in fellowships was communication; the primary delivery method was didactics and the outcome evaluated was attitudes. Conclusions: While PPC education has increased, it remains varied in content, delivery method, and intervention evaluations. Future studies should include more widespread evaluation of behavioral outcomes, longitudinal persistence of use, and clinical impact.

Primary Palliative Care Education in U.S. Residencies and Fellowships: A Systematic Review of Program Leadership Perspectives.

Background: More medical residents and fellows outside of palliative care (PC) will need to be trained in primary PC (PPC) to meet an increasing patient need. Objective: To systematically review surveys of program leadership in postgraduate medical training programs and their respective PPC curricula. Methods: This review included all studies of program leadership surveyed about their PPC curricula in U.S. graduate medical education programs, published in English, and listed on MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE through January 2020. Results: Data were extracted from eight studies that met the selection criteria out of 221 reviewed texts. PC domains of communication, symptom management, and end-of-life care were taught in all medical specialties most commonly through didactics and PC rotations. Program leadership supported expanding PPC curriculum, with lack of time being the most common barrier. There were differences by specialty in which trainees were exposed to PPC education, with most programs not using a formal curriculum. Conclusions: Generally, there are positive attitudes about PPC education, but there remain significant numbers of trainees with no exposure, and heterogeneity in the content and delivery of PPC education across specialties. PPC Education in U.S. Residencies and Fellowships: A Systematic Review of Program Leadership Perspectives.