DEATH EDUCATION IN US MEDICAL-SCHOOLS, 1975-1995

Purpose. To examine medical school offerings on relating to terminally ill patients between 1975 and 1995. Method. Three national surveys of U.S. medical schools were conducted in 1975, 1985, and 1995. Totals o f 107, 113, and 113 questionnaires were returned (response rates of 95 %, 90%, and 93%, respectively). The information sought through the que stionnaires included the types of courses on death and dying offered, the numbers of years the courses hall been offered, the percentages of students taking the courses, and the professional backgrounds of the instructors. Results. Overall, from 1975 to 1995 the number of medical school offerings in death education increased. Although the number of full time courses increased from seven in 1975 to 14 in 1985, it drop ped to nine in 1995. The percentage of schools offering occasional lec tures and short-courses on death and dying, often integrated into ethe r courses, increased from 80% in 1975 to 82% in 1985 to 90% in 1995. W hile not offering full-time courses on death and dying, many schools n oted that they offered three week courses on ethical issues related to death. A team approach to teaching death education was used by a majo rity of schools over tho two decades (59% in 1975, 62% in 1985, and 76 % in 1995). Schools with no formal death education offering decreased from 14 in 1975 to six in 1985 to two in 1995. Conclusion. The increas ed emphasis on medical students' learning to deal with death and acqui ring communication skills for relating to terminally ill patients and their families should lead to better working relations between physici ans and dying patients. The continued use of instructors from outside the medical profession seems to reflect a genuine desire by medical ed ucators to consider the dying patients' needs and to handle ethical is sues. Such an increased humanistic emphasis should help both dying pat ients and students.